Everlasting
by HeavensNight
Summary: Kate Austen recounts her days as a naive schoolgirl, during which time she was terrorised by her stepfather Wayne, when she finally met the man that would turn all her troubles around. AU Jate. ON HIATUS
1. Kate's Journal

_**May 9th, 2026**_

_I've never kept a journal before. I guess I never really found the time. I've been so busy lately I haven't had much time for anything. I've been holding this in for a long time now, I need to get it off my chest or I'll never stop thinking about it. I suppose it's for the best. As Jack would always say, I need to, "Let it go". Which is exactly what I'm doing now. I'm letting go._

_It's my fourty-nineth birthday in a couple of days. I feel so old now, I'd give anything to be in highscool again. Believe it or not but those were some of the best years of my life. You know how everybody hates their school years, well I loved mine. Infact, I can remember everything. Which is why I'm doing this. I need to write it down. He doesn't know I'm doing this, maybe it's best if he doesn't. If he knew what I was going to write about he'd have a fit. So, I'll try to keep this a secret from him. He doesn't need to know anyway, no one does. It's just something I need to do, or it'll be on my mind forever and I'll never beable to get over it once and for all. It's funny really, it feels like only yesterday that we were together. But it's been over thirty years. Time has gone by so fast, I just can't believe it. I can't believe I'm approaching fifty now. It's frightening, really, but everyone has to do it sometime. _

_I'm not saying I'm not happy right now. I am happy, I've got everything I could ever want in my life. But there's one thing I regret doing, just one thing. I've lost sleep over it in the past. I still get the odd bad dream about it. That's basically why I'm doing this. God, I keep repeating myself. I can't help it, it needs to be said. Otherwise I'll grow old thinking about it, and I don't want that. I don't want to lose the man I have already. We've been married almost eighteen years, and I still can't believe it. I love him, I always will, but is he the love of my life? I don't think so. I think he knows he isn't, aswell. But he doesn't say anything to me about it. I think he knows I still think about Jack, but he keeps it quiet. Maybe it's for the best that we both keep quiet about it._

_I want to tell you my story. I don't know who you are and why you're reading this. You might be a close friend, or you might be someone I've known for years. You might even be my husband, and if so I'm sorry for this, but it needs to be done. Then I can try to forget. Then I can move on. _

_Well, moving along, I guess it all started right about the summer of '94. No, that's not right, sorry. It was just before the summer started, before school ended. My life was in complete shambles. I had no boyfriend, my friends didn't understand me and my mother wouldn't admit that her husband was an insensitive bastard. I can actually still remember the day we met. It was a Monday night, I'd been rushing home to study when it happened.. ughhh, I can still remember how embarrassed I felt over it. But he was nice, or seemed to be then. We didn't get on for a long time, but before long.._

_I'd better just tell the story before I start rambling. _


	2. June 15th, 1994

_**June 15th, 1994**_

_It was a Monday, and I'd been having a really bad day. I wasn't sure what to do about Jason, or what I was supposed to do about the situation regarding my mom and Wayne. It was getting to be too much for me, and I couldn't tell anyone about it, because they wouldn't understand. That was the day it started. The day I met Jack._

---

Kate Austen was slumped forwards in her seat, head against the desk. It must have been around quarter to twelve in the afternoon. By now, Kate was barely taking in anything her math teacher, Mr Walsh, was saying. She groaned and closed her eyes. It was like listening to a broken record over and over again. He just never stopped talking.

It didn't really matter, though. In a few days school would be out, and Kate would finally be free. She thought of Highschool as more of an institution than anything else. She'd waited many months for this, though she wasn't quite sure why. When she was at school, it was something to do, to keep her occupied. When school ended, she'd be forced to spend more time with her mother, and _him. _Kate couldn't stand him. Every single night without fail he'd stumble home, drunk off his butt as usual. Kate could always smell the whisky on his breath when he laughed at her sitting at the kitchen table (which she usually was most nights when he came in) doing some last minute studying before the next day. She hated him so much, wished that he'd just go and leave them alone for good. But Diane, Kate's mother, was so hopelessly in love with him that she'd always go crawling back to him in the end, no matter how badly he treated her. This angered Kate more than anything, that her mother could be such a pushover and just let him win like that. Kate could never be like her mother; she would never allow a man to take advantage of her like that, least of all him, Wayne, her mother's sad pathetic excuse for a husband, who would make advances towards her on a regular basis.

It was a pretty hot day. Mr Walsh had taken to opening all the windows, as had most of the teachers. Kate's eyes struggled open and she stared, her head still down on the desk, out of the window. Only ten more minutes to go and then she'd finally beable to get some lunch. She hadn't had anything for breakfast, not wanting to stick around the house while Wayne was still there. Kate scowled to herself, remembering how he had lumbered down the stairs in his robe after a night of heavy drinking. Diane hadn't come out of their room even when Kate had knocked on the door while Wayne had been throwing up in the bathroom. She knew it had happened again, and it pissed her off. She'd come home after school to find her mother sitting in the kitchen, lights turned off of course, and her hands would fly up to her head in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that Wayne had beaten her, again. Kate would ask if she was okay, and would usually get a reply like, 'Okay' if any atall. Wayne would always come in several hours later while Kate was watching _Melrose Place _or whatever and ask her where Diane was. Kate would reply that her mother had 'gone out' when she knew that Diane was crying herself to sleep upstairs. At this, Wayne would leave immidiately, presumably to find her and bring her home. Well, atleast it gave Diane some time to herself without having to endure that pig. _What a scumbag, _Kate would always think bitterly to herself, and yet she was terrified to do anything about it. Wayne would find out, and he'd do worse to her than he'd ever done to Diane. Kate was truly afraid of him, and she couldn't say a word about it, not to anyone.

Stiffling a yawn, Kate sat up again, not atall surprised that Mr Walsh hadn't noticed she'd not been sitting up. He was way too involved with his mind-numbingly boring ramblings about, well, nothing that mattered too much to anyone. Kate never remembered anything he said, and wondered if anyone else ever did, either. She glanced sleepily around the classroom to see, to her shock, a couple of kids staring quite attentively at Mr Walsh as droned on. However, everyone else seemed ready to fall asleep. Kate looked round at Claire, the girl sitting behind her, who was also her best friend. Kate began to snort with laughter when she saw that Claire was actually asleep. Everyone else started to look round aswell, and at once they burst into peals of laughter. Claire sat up at once, eyes red, and Kate guessed she hadn't had much sleep again last night. Either that or Mr Walsh's ramblings were way too much for her to handle.

"Whassit?" Claire groaned, staring around as the entire class laughed harder and harder at her.

"Claire Littleton," Mr Walsh began sternly, hands planted firmly on his hips.

At this the whole class stopped laughing abruptly and stared from Claire to Mr Walsh.

"Do you enjoy taking unscheduled naps in my classes, Claire?" the obnoxious teacher asked her, looking extremely grim.

"Uhh.." Claire looked too tired to reply, "I.. it was.. sorry.."

"In future, maybe you should think about getting a good night's sleep for once, instead of falling asleep during class," Mr Walsh went on, glowering at everyone in the class, "That goes for the rest of you aswell. You come to school to work, not to sleep!"

Claire didn't say anything else but started to play with her long blonde hair. She cracked a nervous smile at Kate, who grinned back then turned back to Mr Walsh before he could accuse her of not paying attention to his fascinating ramblings. Before long, the bell sounded and Kate jumped up at once, snatching up her books and following Claire out of the classroom.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked Kate as they walked out into the hall.

"Do what?" Kate asked as they walked.

"Draw attention to me like that!" Claire said indignantly, huffing, "I was having such a nice nap, too. It makes a change from never being able to sleep at home.."

"Is it him again?" Kate asked her sympathetically.

Claire sighed and nodded. "Who else? Mum keeps bringing him home every night, and I still don't even know who he is! Well, I sort of do now. Last night he told me his name it's Johnny apparently. But that's all."

"Where'd your mom meet him?" Kate asked as they approached her locker.

"God knows," Claire said, rolling her eyes, "Some bar I think. Her bringing home some random guy is nothing new but she's brought him home nearly every night of the week. I think she might be seeing him or something."

"Oooh, you might be getting a stepdad," Kate teased with a grin.

"Quiet, you," Claire muttered, giving her a playful shove.

They were suddenly interrupted by none other than Charlie Pace, who strolled confidently down the hall and right up to them, creeping up behind Claire. "Boo!" he said, and Claire jumped and spun around. Kate just now realized how tall Charlie was getting. He practically towered over Claire now, who was a mere 5"1, while Kate stood at 5"4. It also looked like he'd doing something to his hair, for it was looking more blonde than usual.

"You moron! Scaring me like that," Claire exclaimed, though she was smiling.

"Hey there, Blonde Bombshell," Kate teased, "Like the hair."

"Really? I'm goin' for a new look, I thought.." but he was cut off abruptly when Claire kissed him.

"Don't you dare! You're not going to start changing now," she said, smiling up at him.

Charlie blushed and kissed her back. Kate smiled as they embraced. Charlie and Claire had been going out for the past two months months, after many tiresome months of Kate having to play "the messenger" they'd finally admitted their feelings for eachother and had gotten together, much to Kate's relief. They were her best friends, but it had been like playing piggy in the middle, and of course she had been the piggy. She was glad that they were finally together, but for how long? There hadn't been a fight yet or any signs of one for that matter, but Kate was sure it would come sooner or later. Then she would have to play the piggy again, for sure.

"So, d'you guys want to come to mine tonight?" Charlie asked, sliding his arms around Claire, "It'll be cool. We can watch a film or something."

"Umm.." to tell the truth, Kate wasn't too keen on going. Now that they were dating, Charlie and Claire had begun to spend more and more time together, excluding Kate most of the time. However, even though she could get a little jealous sometimes, Kate wasn't sure she wanted to be around them at Charlie's place when the three of them were home alone. She just didn't feel comfortable with it, especially because Claire and Charlie would probably spend the entire evening making out, which is what they did best.

"Actually, I don't think I can," she said finally, stuffing her books into her locker.

Claire's smile faltered. "Aw come on Kate, you've been really down lately, let us cheer you up."

"It's okay, really," Kate replied weakly, knowing it wasn't okay in the slightest. She was still nervous about going home. One of these days Wayne would start on her, she knew it. When that happened, what was she supposed to do? Who was she supposed to tell? Who would understand?

"Kate?" she heard Charlie say and was aroused from her thoughts.

"No, I have to get home early to study anyway," she said with a sad smile.

Claire made a face. "You're _always_ studying, you really need a break."

Kate said nothing to this. She knew she didn't need a break. Her grades were way down at the moment, she knew. Whenever she tried to study at home, she could only get in a half hour or so because then Wayne would be there, attempting to distract her. She also never paid attention in class, so there was that too.

Claire just stared at her. "Okay. We're gonna get some lunch now, are you coming?"

Kate shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry," she lied, and started to walk away. That was a blatent lie; she had been starving all day. But now she just wanted to be alone, away from the noisy jerks in the cafeteria and by herself to sort her head out. She felt bad for just walking away from Claire and Charlie, her two best friends, but she just couldn't deal with anything right then. She felt as though her whole world was falling apart, and nobody would ever beable to understand.

"Hey, Kate!"

She turned and saw a tall, dark boy striding towards her. It took her a moment to recognize him, then she realized it was Jason Grimson, whom she recognized from her Biology class. Kate had never really talked to Jason before, but now he was calling her name and walking towards her like they were best friends.

"Jason?" she asked, giving him a quizzical look, "What d'you want?"

"I wanted to invite you to a party on Saturday," he said, grinning down at her. He must have been about six feet tall, a giant compared to her. "It's gonna be great, over at Shawn O'Neal's place, y'know? Anyway, I wanted to ask you but you were always with your friends and stuff, so.."

Kate bit her lip, what was she supposed to say to that?

"Thanks Jason, but I don't think I can make it," she replied as politely as she could.

Jason's smile faltered. "Come on, Kate. I like you, I'd like you to go with me."

Kate didn't like where this was going. She barely knew Jason as it was, but he was staring at her in a suggestive way that made her extremely uncomfortable. "I'll think about it, okay?" she sighed, then walked straight past him. She couldn't think about this right now. She would though, later maybe. It had been a long time since a boy had asked her out like that. She hadn't been in a real relationship since she'd split with Tom over a year ago. They never even talked anymore. It was like they were complete strangers.

"Y'know you like me too, Katie!" Jason called after her.

Kate stiffened. Nobody but Tom _ever _called her Katie. Well, he had when they'd been going out, but whenever they did talk (which wasn't often) he would always just say, 'Hi, Kate' to her, to which she would reply, 'Hey, Tom' then they'd both go their seperate ways once again. But that was just the way things were now. Besides, she'd dumped him. So why did she feel like she'd made a mistake in doing that?

She actually felt like crying. She could feel the tears beginning to stream down her face, and raised her hands to her face. She noticed a group of girls walking down the hall towards her and looked around helplessly. Then, she saw she was standing right by the girls bathroom and hurried inside. As she closed the door behind her, she hung her head and began to sob quietly to herself. Why was all this happening to her? What had she done to deserve all of this?

Kate stayed in the bathroom until she heard the bell sound for the end of lunch, and dried her eyes before heading out to her next class. She knew it was obvious she'd been crying, but didn't care. She just wished something would happen that would turn all of this around.

---

After what seemed like an eternity, school ended for the day. Kate couldn't get her mind off Jason's invite to that party as she walked outside with Charlie and Claire. Should she go with him? He didn't seem so bad. She knew he could be cocky, she'd had Biology with him for the last couple of years and had witnessed his attempts at being 'cool' by trying to piss their teacher, Mr Grahams, off. Besides, why shouldn't she accept? It wasn't like she had any other important plans. And if it meant she would beable to stay well out of Wayne's way then that was good, too. Just as she was deciding on what to say to Jason the next time she saw him, Claire started talking to her.

"Are you sure you don't want to come over tonight, Kate?" she asked, as they crossed the school grounds and headed towards the gate.

"No, I'm okay," Kate replied, forcing a smile.

Claire still didn't look convinced. "I'll be a minute," she told Charlie, who nodded and hung back while Claire took Kate's arm and led her away from him. "What's wrong with you, Kate? Before today you'd never have said no to hanging out with us. Is there something wrong? What's up?" she asked, wearing a look of concern.

Kate wasn't sure what to say to her. "No, Claire, I'm fine. Stop worrying about me, okay?"

Claire still looked worried. "Okay. But if something's wrong, you know you can tell me, right?"

Kate smiled and nodded. "Of course." she said quietly.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tommorow, then," Claire sighed as they walked back over to where Charlie was standing, "Just try to cheer up, Kate. I don't like seeing you like this."

"Hope you're okay, Kate," Charlie said with a kindly smile.

"Thanks," Kate said to the both of them.

"I'll call you tonight," Claire said with a smile, and then waved as she and Charlie left.

The walk home was awful for Kate, knowing that she would have to face Wayne again tonight. She just hoped her mother wasn't in too much of a state when she got home. She became aware that she was shaking, and tried to snap herself out of it. She'd done this a thousand times before, what was it about today that unnerved her?

Kate broke into a run, determined not to get upset again. However, as she reached the end of the street she tripped up, and watched as her books flew into the air before falling flat onto her face. Groaning, she scrambled around on the ground trying to pick up her things when she suddenly realized she wasn't alone. She closed her eyes briefly and braced herself before getting up to her feet. However, it wasn't some stupid jock who had come to jeer at her because she'd fallen over, it wasn't even someone she recognized from school.

"You okay?" he asked, bending down to pick up a book which he handed back to her.

Kate was momentarily speechless. He must have been about eighteen years old, maybe even older. Then she took the book from him. "Thanks," she said gratefully, and to her surprise he picked up the rest of her things for her and gave them back to her.

"Sure you're okay?" he asked again.

"Yeah," Kate answered, "Have we met before?"

"No, I don't think so," he replied with a smile. He extended his hand to her, "But I think I've seen you around. Claire's friend, right? I'm Jack, by the way."

"I'm Kate," she replied, shaking his hand, "How do you know Claire?"

"Her mom knows my mom," Jack explained, "Yeah, I've heard Claire talking about you. Nice to meet you, anyway."

"Yeah, you too," Kate breathed.

"Well, uh.." Jack grinned stupidly at her, "See you around, I guess."

"Yeah.." Kate croaked, and then he was gone.

She stared after him, wondering why Claire had never mentioned him before. Kate then tried to put him out of her mind and thought back to Jason. What about the party? Jason would be bugging her all week about it until she said yes. Well, what the hell, why shouldn't she go. Yeah, she'd tell him she was going with him tommorow. Anyway, it could be fun.

Kate continued to walk home, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get Jack out of her mind.

---

To no surprise, the lights were off when Kate entered the house. She wondered if her mother had bothered going to work. Kate set down her books on the table, and got herself a soda from the fridge. She'd rather be hanging out with Charlie and Claire, but she didn't want to leave her mother alone for the evening, with him.

"What did you say?"

Kate froze. Was that..

_"What did you just say?!"_

Wayne.

"No, Wayne! Please, no!" came her mother's shrill scream.

_"You just don't get it, do you?!" _Wayne roared from upstairs.

Kate leapt to her feet and ran upstairs, then burst into the bedroom, to find Wayne standing over her mother, a belt in his hand. Kate stared, horrified, as Wayne closed in on Diane, who was whimpering and trying to shield her face with her hands.

"Stay away from her!" Kate blurted out angrily, though she was shaking like mad.

Wayne turned slowly towards her. "Hey there, Kate. How was school?" he asked with a cruel laugh.

"Get the _fuck _away from her," Kate growled through gritted teeth, though her legs were slowly turning to jelly so she couldn't move out of fear. Wayne barely heard her. He stepped towards her, still grasping the belt.

"Wayne, don't--" Diane began helplessly.

"Shut up," Wayne barked back at her, though his eyes were fixed on Kate.

He approached her and then suddenly he was right there infront of her, but Kate was too afraid to move. For a moment he appeared to raise the belt, as if to strike her, then he lowered it and dropped it to the floor. He smirked sardonically at her, and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll see you later," he said in a threatening tone, and walked past her, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Kate went to comfort her mother, who was still huddled in the corner, sobbing quietly to herself. "Katherine," she began wheezily, "How was school? How's Claire? I hope you've been paying attention in class."

"Don't," Kate said, voice shaking.

Diane just stared up at her with sad eyes. "He doesn't mean it Katherine, I know it seems like he does but.."

"He means it, mom," Kate said, furious that her mother could be defending Wayne like this, "Don't try to excuse his actions. What he's done to you.."

But Diane didn't appear to be listening anymore. She stood up and brushed herself down, and Kate saw that she was now sporting a black eye. It was just too much. Wayne was a monster, how could her mother still love him after all this?

"I'll make you some dinner," she said quietly, and left the room.

Kate was left to wonder what would happen when Wayne got home, now that she'd finally tried to stand up to him.


	3. June 16th, 1994

_**June 16th, 1994**_

_Wow, it's funny how I can remember so much from so long ago. Well, I was still thinking about Jack the next day, I could barely get my mind off our first meeting. It had been so awkward. I couldn't wait to tell Claire and Charlie about it. I wondered what they would say, or if they'd seen him around too. I'd tried to tell Claire over the phone the other night but had ended up chickening out. Why was I even thinking about that? I was supposed to be thinking about what I was going to say to Jason. Well, that day I saw Jason again, and gave him the verdict. _

---

The very next morning, at around 7:45AM, Kate left the house, almost dropping her books as she carefully closed the front door behind her. She winced in pain and stumbled slightly, then got her balance and continued down the path and through the gate. Her mind was going numb, for she was still reeling from the previous night. She'd also worn a long sleeved shirt inorder to hide the fresh bruise on her right arm.

As she'd expected, Wayne hadn't forgotten about the little incident that had occured when Kate had arrived home from school, to find him beating her mother senseless with his belt. He'd gotten her back for it, she'd known it was coming anyway. It had happened a little while later, while Kate's mother slept uneasily in the room across the hall. He'd taken her by surprise though; moments after being called by Claire, he'd entered her bedroom, something he'd never done before. Kate had been more scared than ever, for she'd expected him to approach her later on in the evening while she was studying.

"What's your deal, eh?" he'd inquired menacingly, "Where d'you get off talkin' to me like that?"

Kate could recall how she'd been frozen with fear, how he'd advanced towards her, that disgusting ugly smirk on his face, "Hey, Katherine, _Kate, _I asked you a fuckin' question. I'd appreciate an answer, if it ain't too much trouble."

She couldn't possibly answer him. Anything she'd have said would have just made him angry. When Wayne was angry, it wasn't good. It definitely wasn't good. So, she'd just done what any young girl would do when fearing for her own life. She'd stayed silent, occasionaly opening her mouth as if to speak, then closing it.

"Your Ma and me.." Wayne had begun, his face softening only slightly, "She deserved it. She talked back to me, Kate. Y'know I don't like to be talked back to."

Kate knew, all too well infact. She'd begun to glance helplessly around the room, as if for a way out when she knew there wasn't any. If Wayne wanted to beat her up like he did her mother, he would, no doubt about it. Kate had always wondered whether he'd ever try to touch her. She didn't know what she'd do if that ever happened. He'd shown a keen interest in her, but Kate had rebuffed him, like always. He'd never tried to take advantage of her, but Kate had been alone in her bedroom with him. She'd had no idea what was going to happen next.

She'd gotten lucky that night.

But that didn't mean she hadn't quite escaped the consequences of defending her mother.

Wayne had taken a deep breath, and had then drawn back. By this time his smirk had changed to a grimace, and he wore a fixated glare. Kate had presumed that he was about to leave, and maybe, even hopefully, forget about what had happened earlier. No such luck.

He'd only closed the door.

Kate's heart had begun to race faster.

She had immidiately jumped off her bed and made a bolt for the other side of the room, but Wayne had proved too faster for her. He'd grabbed her by her waist and clamped a hand over her mouth. Kate had opened her mouth to scream, but no sound had come out. Besides, her mother was sleeping, and even if she could hear, there was no way in hell she was going to try to cross Wayne, again.

"Don't be scared," he'd rasped in her ear, "Don't scream, just don't fuckin' scream!"

Kate had screamed her heart out but to no avail. Wayne had then grabbed her by her arm and slung her into the wall. Kate had cried out in pain, and slumped down to the floor. Luckily, she'd not been hurt too badly, except for the small pain where her arm had come into contact with the wall.

Wayne had then stood over her, obviously enjoying himself. "Don't ever ignore me," he'd said vehemently, "or I'll do worse to you than I did to your Ma today."

Kate had gotten the message, loud and clear. Minutes later she'd found herself alone again, but she hadn't moved. She remembered sitting there against the wall, crying to herself for atleast an hour before simply going straight to bed. She'd been in no mood to study that night. If she got a lecture from Ingram for not doing that essay he'd asked them to complete by Tuesday? Well, fuck it.

The pain wasn't so bad. It was just her arm, afterall. She knew her mother had heard, from the looks she had given Kate at breakfast that morning. Scared and confused. But still she'd kissed Wayne goodbye before leaving for work. That was how it always went. She'd forgive him, just like that. She'd always forgive him, for as long as she lived.

Kate knew she should probably be at school for around ten past eight, but she was in such a bad mood that she didn't care. She'd be as late as she wanted. Part of her felt protective towards her mother, knowing she should try to help her, another part felt extreme pity towards her mother for loving Wayne so, then another part jus felt flat out angry for being in the middle of it all. She was pissed at her mother, too, for allowing Wayne to live with them, to stumble in drunk almost every night and give them both abuse, whether it was physical or emotional. But if Wayne ever really hurt her mother, so help her, Kate would just snap. And then she'd try to put a stop to it once and for all.

Kate had been hoping to run into the guy from yesterday, Jack. He'd seemed really sweet. Then she remembered herself, why was she thinking about him? She didn't even know him. For all she knew he could just be some pervert or whatever. But still, he hadn't seemed that way. He'd seemed genuinely sweet, from what she could tell.

By the time Kate arrived at school, it was already half past eight. She noticed Claire standing nearby, looking impatient. Her friend noticed her and ran over, wearing a frown. "Kate, where the hell have you been? You're never usually this late. Come on!"

Kate didn't argue. The two of them entered the school building just in time. The bell sounded just as they got inside. "Well, that was close. You know how Locke is when we're late," Claire said, rolling her eyes. "So, did you finish that essay Ingram asked for?" she asked as they walked down the hall together.

"Uh, I didn't really get time to do it," Kate replied, brushing a loose strand of her behind her ear.

Claire stared at her in disbelief. "You're kidding me! You _always _study. You're a total bookworm, and yet you didn't manage to finish it?"

"Well, I didn't really get around to starting it, actually," Kate said quietly, forcing a grin. If Claire knew why she really hadn't done the essay, she'd bug Kate about it all day, and probably tell Charlie, who Kate knew could never keep anything to himself.

"I can't believe it, it's like you suddenly changed overnight," Claire commented, looking slightly worried.

Kate noticed and tried to steer the conversation out of dangerous waters. "Yeah. So um, how was last night?" she asked, throwing her friend a suggestive grin. Maybe then Claire would stop fretting. To her relief, Claire also began to grin.

"It was okay," she said simply, "and nothing _happened, _incase you were wondering."

"What, nothing?" Kate teased, and Claire gave her a playful jab in the ribs.

"That's right, _nothing,_" Claire stated, though she was still grinning, "Honestly, we're not like how you and Tom used to be."

Kate tried to remember. Just like that, she did. It was so weird, she hadn't even thought of Tom in months, and had forgotten everything they used to be. Now she remembered, and it made her sad. She wished they could be friends or something, but knew they were both different people now, and that nothing was going to change that fact.

"Yeah, whatever," Kate said, sticking her tongue out at Claire, who pulled a face back.

"Come on, let's get to class," Claire said, pulling Kate along with her.

They had Biology first thing. It was good, because atleast she had time to think up a plausible excuse to Ingram about why she hadn't even attempted the essay he'd set them. Also, Biology was generally a relaxing lesson, unless they were doing something practical, but most of the time they just had to listen to Mr Locke and write down notes. Kate and Claire entered the room, and took their seats. It was only when Jason strolled into the classroom that Kate remembered he sat next to her.

"Okay, class, just take your seats and I'll be right back," Locke announced to them before leaving the room.

Jason took his seat, and for a moment it seemed like he'd forgotten her, until Kate felt something drop into her lap.

She glanced at it and saw that it was note.

_Yes or no?_

Kate couldn't help but smile. She then whipped out a pen and scribbled down her response, then handed it back to him, just as Locke came back into the room and sat down in his chair.

_Haven't decided yet_

Seconds later he passed it back to her.

_It'll be great fun you know it will_

Kate still wasn't sure.

_Well if you keep asking me maybe I'll just say no?_

She passed it to him, and a moment later he passed it back.

_Please x_

Kate fought the urge to laugh and responded with:

_Oh, a kiss, that supposed to make me change my mind_

He responded with:

_Well, yeah, okay two kisses xx_

Kate didn't respond to him after that, and avoided his gaze for the rest of the hour. After what felt like a long time, the bell sounded, and Kate made sure she was the first person out of the room. She just wasn't sure about any of it. She did like Jason, and it was sweet of him to ask her out, but she still wasn't sure. With all that was happening she wasn't sure whether she was ready to embark on a new relationship.

As always, Kate made a detour to the girl's bathroom, though she knew that Claire would already be waiting for her outside. They had a free period now, something they'd seldom use to study and often use to gossip about various things. But today, Kate wasn't so sure she wanted to gossip with her friend. She knew Claire was onto her, and why shouldn't she be? Kate had already realized that she needed to try to act natural around her friends. But it was hard, knowing that when she got home after school, Wayne would be there waiting for her. After last night, Kate was almost terrified to go home again. But she knew she had to, inorder to protect her mother. Who knew what Wayne might do if Kate wasn't around to stop him.

After composing herself for ten minutes, Kate took a deep breath and, after one last glance at herself in the mirror, left the girl's bathroom. She met Claire outside, and rolled her eyes upon seeing the other girl taking a drag from a ciggarette. Kate had known about Claire's little habit for many months now, and was surprised that Claire's parents hadn't even sussed it out yet. Kate had often tried to get Claire to quit, but her friend barely even seemed to notice.

"There you are," Claire said, looking up as Kate walked up.

"What d'you mean, 'There you are'?" Kate inquired, taking a seat on the wall beside Claire, their usual spot.

Claire raised her eyebrows. "Don't play dumb with me, missy," she began in an exaggerated tone, "You've been acting weird lately. Not that you're not always weird, but these days it's been different. What really bothers me is that you never want to talk about it. So, dish the dirt. What's up?"

Kate tried to smile, but failed miserably. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Kate, I'm not stupid," Claire said, sounding impatient, "If there's something wrong, you can tell me. You've always told me everything before. But over the last few months it's like you've been sleep walking. Come on, just tell me. Please."

Though she initially wanted to tell Claire about everything anyway, Kate was still worried about what her friend might say or do if she found out. She didn't need protecting; there was nothing anyone could do to stop Wayne anyway. If the cops got involved, what good would that do? What proof did Kate have against him, anyway? Her mother would surely back him up. So, there was nothing Kate to do but just stand by and let it happen. She'd tried standing up to Wayne, and look where it had got her. He had physically abused her for the first time last night, though it was just a bruise on her arm, it still meant that he would surely go further if she got in the way again.

"If I tell you," Kate began slowly, "You need to promise me that you won't tell a soul, even Charlie. Got it?"

Claire nodded vigourously, "Okay, I won't. So, what is it?"

Kate told her everything, from meeting Wayne for the first time six months ago, to discovering that he had been abusing her mother just three months ago. She was aware of a disgusting taste in her mouth as she did. She hated Wayne, and everything he stood for. She just wanted him out the house, and out of their lives for good.

She watched her friend's face change very slowly as the story was told. By the end of it, Claire was just sitting gawking at her. "Oh my god.." she whispered after Kate finished, "I never realized, Kate. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have been so pushy before.."

"It's okay," Kate said softly, "You had no idea. I'm glad I finally got to tell someone about it, though."

"Kate, you do realize you have to tell someone, right?" Claire went on worriedly, "The police.."

"..are not going to find out," Kate finished for her, "Not right now, anyway."

Claire's mouth fell open. "You're joking! Kate, you just told me that he attacked you last night, and you're not going to do anything about it?"

"Even if the cops got involved, Wayne would deny everything, and my mom would back him up on it," Kate said fiercely, frowning at her friend. "Which means I'd probably be arrested for 'making up stories' or whatever."

"But.." Claire began meekly, then stopped, "You're probably right. But what are you going to do? You can't just let him get away with this!"

"And I won't," Kate said, "But for now, I can't go to the cops about this. See, this is why I didn't want to tell you in the first place, I knew you'd do this."

"Do what? Try to protect my best friend?" Claire said, an incredulous look on her face, "He's hurt your mom, Kate. He's hurt _you, _for crying out loud. Okay, so let's say you don't go to the police about this. What are you going to do? Wait 'til he kills your mom?"

Kate glanced sharply at her. "He's not going to kill her," she said vehemently, "How can you think that?"

"Kate, I might not pay attention in class a lot but I know more about domestic violence than you think," Claire sighed, taking one last drag on her cigarette before putting it out, "A friend of my mom's was married to this guy a while back. He beat her up a lot, even after she got pregnant. Anyway, she wouldn't say anything for a while, even though everyone knew exactly what was going on. She wouldn't admit it to anyone because she was scared to death of her husband and what she knew he would do if he found out she'd told. So, she just went on as normal, and a short while later she ended up in a coma."

"Did she ever recover?" Kate inquired, almost frozen in fear after hearing this.

Claire nodded. "Yeah, but only after three months. The doctors told her she was really lucky."

"Why are you telling me this, anyway?" Kate asked, "Like I said, she'll just defend him. She still loves him. I can tell."

Claire shrugged and hopped off the wall, then stared back up at her. "I'm your friend, Kate, so I'll keep this to myself. Want me to come over to your place tonight?"

"You don't need to protect me, Claire," Kate sighed, "I doubt you could anyway. When he gets angry, it's just.. crazy."

"I just don't want to see you getting hurt," Claire said with a sad smile, "Look, if he's starting on you then you atleast need to get out of there while you can. You can come and stay with us if you want, my mom won't mind."

Kate thought about it. Yes, it would be good to get away from Wayne, but what about her mother? She couldn't just leave her there alone. "Sorry, Claire, but I can't just leave my mom alone with him. I need to be there to.."

"To do what?" Claire interrupted, "Kate, there's no way you can stop Wayne from doing what he's doing to your mom. There's nothing anyone can do for her 'til she accepts the fact that Wayne is a son of a bitch who needs to be locked away, so until then I really think it's best if you come and stay with us. Atleast it means he can't touch you, and that's what your mom would want for you anyway, right?"

Kate bit her lip. She didn't like to leave her mother like that, with Wayne, but what was the alternative? Wayne was starting on her now, and it was only a matter of time before he started to get more aggressive. When that happened, Kate might end up in worse shape than her mother. Kate played back Claire's story about the woman who'd ended up in a coma due to physical abuse from her husband, and shivered.

"Yeah, okay," she said resignedly, "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Of course," Claire said gently, "You know my mom likes you."

Kate shrugged, "Fine. When should I come over, though?"

"Sooner the better, I guess," Claire said, sounding unsure, "I'll call you as soon as I get home, right?"

"Sure," Kate agreed, jumping down from the wall, "Thanks, Claire."

"Hey, it's no problem," Claire said with a smile, "Hey, there's Charlie.."

Sure enough, Kate turned and saw Charlie walking up to them, waving and grinning. Claire rolled her eyes and turned back to Kate. "Come on, we'll talk about this later." she said with a smile, and took Kate's arm. "Remember to pack some pajama's and whatever when you get home, just incase it's tonight."

"Right," Kate said with a nod, and then the two of them went to join Charlie, though Kate didn't stop thinking about their conversation for the rest of the afternoon.

---

Hours later, the three of them were sitting in their usual spot during lunch. Kate was quite bitter by this time and feeling a lot of resent towards her ignorant English teacher, Mr Ingram. It was only now that she wished she'd atleast made a start on the essay. Instead of giving her a long, tedious lecture after class, Ingram had insisted on placing her right on the spot infront of the entire class, who had watched, amused as Kate was lectured about punctuality and what not right before their eyes. Well, next time she wouldn't make the same mistake. Hopefully, anyway.

Then, for some reason, Kate's mind turned back to Jack. Why was she still thinking about him? She knew if she told Claire, her friend would say something along the lines of, "Wow, love at first sight," and tease her relentlessly about it. Still, she hoped to see Jack again and maybe even talk to him properly next time.

Kate was suddenly aware of the complete silence that surrounded her. She glanced up at Charlie, who seemed barely aware of them. He was, to no surprise, penning down lyrics to his latest song, "Change". Writing songs was all he ever did, when he wasn't talking endlessly about them, of course. Charlie had formed a band with his older brother Liam, and Liam's best friend Roderick. They'd called themselves "DriveShaft", for what reason Kate couldn't figure out. They'd played a couple of local shows and it seemed like Charlie was really dedicated to it. Claire would always tell Kate when they were alone that she wished he would talk about something else for once.

To her left, Claire appeared to be dozing off. Her eyes flickered open and she stared at Kate. "What is it?" she asked, and Kate burst out laughing. Charlie, who had been immersed in what he was doing, jumped about five feet into the air.

"Jesus christ," he said in his strong British accent, "Mind not doing that again, please?"

"Sorry," Kate murmered, rolling her eyes.

Claire laughed heartily, "Don't mind him, he's just too busy trying to write a song that doesn't suck."

"What are you implying?" Charlie inquired, though both Kate and Claire knew he was joking.

"Charlie.." Kate began slowly, "Have you seen a guy around called Jack?"

Charlie stared at her thoughtfully. Kate had asked him because she knew his brother was in college and had a lot of friends there, therefore Charlie was often introduced to them. "Yeah, I think," he said after a moment, "I think he just moved here from Los Angeles."

"Why?" Claire cut in, staring suspiciously at Kate, "Who is he?"

"Nobody," Kate said, though she couldn't help but blush, "Just a guy I bumped into."

"Yeah, right," Claire teased, grinning at her. "What about that other guy you were with before? Jason Grimson?"

"I, uh.." Kate blushed, "Okay, he asked me out. But I didn't know what to say, so.."

"Kate!" Claire exclaimed, slapping her forehead, "Why would you turn him down? You need this!"

"I've survived this long without a boyfriend, haven't I?" Kate bit back, slightly irritated.

Claire sighed impatiently and absently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Kate, I know you. I know you've been waiting for this for a long time. I really think you should take this opportunity. Jason's a nice guy from what I've seen, you'd be stupid _not _to go out with him."

"She's right, Kate," Charlie took over, and when both girls turned to glower at him he shrank back, "Okay, sorry I said anything.."

"The point," Claire started again, ignoring her confused boyfriend, "is that you really do need this. You can't disagree with me, Kate. When's the last time you went out on a date with someone? Tom? Yeah, I thought so. Why not just let Jason take you out, and see what happens?"

Kate sighed, feeling defeated. It looked as though her friend was never going to let this go until Kate agreed to do it. "Fine," she mumbled, staring with pleading eyes at Charlie, who merely shrugged, obviously still a bit wary of Claire, who gave a satisfied smile.

"See? Now, where would you be without me?" she said coolly, clapping Kate on the back.

Kate simply groaned. "Okay, you win. I'll tell him when I see him."

She didn't have to wait too long, however, as while Kate and Claire were on their way to gym, while Charlie bade them both goodbye before going off for Chemistry, Jason approached them outside.

"Speak of the Devil," Claire said with a chuckle, "I'll see you later."

And before Kate could object, Claire had already trotted off to gym without her. She sighed and looked to Jason, who was on his way over. When he approached he gave her a winning smile, "Hey, Kate. Why'd you ditch me before? I was hoping to get an answer from you."

Kate forced a smile, "Yeah, sorry about that. I just really needed to go to the bathroom."

Jason nodded, though he didn't look convinced, "Oh, all right. So, d'you wanna come with me on Saturday?"

Well, this was it. It was now or never. "Jason," Kate began meekly, staring up at him, "I've been uh, thinking about it over lunch, and.. I uh.." she sighed, at a complete loss for words, then remembered Claire's words of wisdom and realized what she had to do. "I'll go with you on Saturday."

Jason practically punched the air at this. "That's awesome, Kate. So, what now then? Do you want me to pick you up?"

Kate knew that Jason had a car. She'd see him arrive at school in it every now and then. It was a yellow Honda, and from this Kate guessed that Jason came from a well off family, as opposed to her own family, who sometimes skipped out on bills when they couldn't quite pay them. Why hadn't Kate tried to get her driving license? She had no idea. She was only seventeen, and had been waiting to learn how to drive for years, but as soon as she hit sixteen for some reason she opted out of it. Of course, she knew that Claire didn't have a car either. Claire only lived with her Aunt and mother, and neither could afford to buy her one. Charlie had been discussing finally getting his license and buying a car recently, but nothing had come of that yet.

"Sure," Kate blurted out finally, "That sounds fine."

"Okay," Jason said, grinning, "I'll pick you up at around seven, at your place?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Kate agreed with a small smile.

Jason clapped his hands together, "All right. Well, I gotta go, but I'll see you later, right?"

"Yeah, okay," Kate replied, and smiled as he walked off, though he looked back at her over his shoulder, still grinning.

That had felt strangely good. Kate hadn't actually felt happy in quite a while, but found herself looking forward to Saturday for the rest of the day. Claire even commented that she was glowing during gym, and no matter how much Kate tried to deny it, she couldn't help but agree with her friend.

---

It started to rain just as Kate turned off down the street. She was just a couple of blocks away from home, and yet she cursed herself for not bringing along an umbrella. It was summer, and it was usually quite hot, so why of all days had it started to rain? Kate wasn't the superstitious type, and yet she couldn't help but fear that this was some sort of sign, that something bad was about to come her way. She was probably right, aswell. Wayne might be waiting for her at home. But she'd made up her mind to pack a few things and go to stay at Claire's. It was for the best right now, she knew that.

The rain began to fall harder, until it felt like it was hailing down, and Kate attempted to cover her head with her books. She hadn't thought about getting them wet and ruined, she just wanted to get out of this rain. She broke into a run, knowing that the house was just a few more blocks...

...and skidded right to a halt.

A car had just pulled up across the street, and Kate stopped to watch as young man with short, dark, soft-looking hair get out. He gave the driver a thumbs up and shut the car door, then watched as the car went off down the street. Kate suddenly recognized him. It was Jack, the guy she'd met only yesterday.

She'd been so distracted by him that she'd forgotten that she standing there in the rain. Though it was late June, it was freezing cold, standing there. Shivering, Kate cast one last longing look his way, and carried on down the street, making a mental note to remember an umbrella for tomorrow. However, to her great surprise, it seemed like Jack had noticed her standing there, because a moment later he was crossing the street and coming towards her.

"Hey!" he called out to her, "What are you doing?"

Kate was suddenly frozen. "W-What d'you mean?"

Jack came to a halt infront of her. "You're standing out here in the rain."

Kate tried to act like she had just noticed, "Oh!" she said, with a forced giggle.

He glanced her up and down, wearing a look of concern. She met his gaze and he looked away, which only made Kate feel more uncomfortable. "Look," he began, "Where d'you live? Is it far?"

"Just a couple of blocks," Kate said loudly through the rain.

"C'mon," Jack answered, beckoning her to him, "Follow me."

Kate was quite nervous at this point, and she wasn't about to follow a complete stranger. However, she had a gut feeling that Jack was a nice guy, and so she blindly followed him across the street. Jack went through the gate leading up to one of the small house's on the other side of the street and started up the steps. It was then that Kate realized that was where he lived.

"You coming?" he called, and Kate nodded and followed him up.

They entered the house and Jack immidiately opened a door to Kate's right and, after a few seconds, pulled out an umbrella. Kate relaxed, and gratefully took it from him. "Thanks a lot," she said, "Umm, how will I give it back to you?" she added nervously.

"Keep it," Jack said, "Don't worry, it's okay."

Kate had been about to say thanks again when a voice cut sharply through the nice little moment they'd been having. "Jack? Is that you?" it called from the next room. It was a woman's voice, and Kate presumed it was Jack's mother.

"Yeah, it's me," Jack called in return.

"Did Sawyer drop you off again?"

"Yeah," Jack answered, looking slightly annoyed.

When he got no other response, he looked back at Kate. "Umm, you sure you don't wanna stay a few minutes until the rain stops? I'd offer to drop you off but I don't have a car, so.."

Kate shook her head, wondering if he realized how totally inappropriate that would be. Jack seemed to realize it and he laughed weakly, "Um, sorry about that. Just the weather is a little crazy tonight, I was just.."

"It's okay," Kate replied, "But I should really get home. Thanks anyway."

"Ah, okay," Jack said with a nod, "Kate, right? I bumped into you yesterday, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," Kate said with a smile, "and you're Jack, if I remember rightly."

"Yep, that's me," Jack said, "Well, it was good to see you again. See you, Kate."

"Bye, Jack," Kate answered, and then turned, walked out onto the patio, and descended the stone steps. She heard the door close behind her, and started to smile. It couldn't just be coincidence, that she and Jack had talked again just a day after meeting. Her happiness at seeing him again however was shattered, when she remembered what she have to endure when she got home. What would her mother say when Kate told her she was going to stay with Claire? She'd tell her she was being stupid, that Wayne wasn't hurting either of them. Well, Kate would just have to cross that bridge when she came to it.


	4. June 17th, 1994 Part I

_**June 17th, 1994**_

_I knew I shouldn't even be thinking of Jack. He was in college, probably atleast three years older than myself, and yet I couldn't help it. He seemed like such a sweet guy, and it wasn't often that one of those came along. I was on cloud nine after our second encounter, but my good mood was quickly shattered when I arrived home to confront my mother.._

---

_Brrring, Brrring!_

Kate woke suddenly to the sound of an alarm clock going off. Yet it sounded more like a smoke alarm ringing in her ears. She groaned and quickly threw a pillow over her head, and a moment later the beeping stopped abruptly. Glad that was over, her eyes struggled open and she stared blearily around the room. She could just about make out Claire, sitting up in bed and yawning.

"Come on, sleepy head," she heard Claire say, "time to get up!"

"What time is it?" Kate groaned.

"Six fourty-five," Claire said lightly, "C'mon, you can have the shower first."

"Umm, thanks," Kate replied gratefully. She didn't want to impose but she was feeling quite gross this morning as she hadn't had the chance to take a shower last night. "Hey, thanks for last night, by the way. I guess you're right.. it's not my fault."

"Don't worry about it," Claire said gently, "But I do think you need to call your mom and work this out."

"She wouldn't listen," Kate sighed, "The problem is that she doesn't see the horrible, bullying man he is, all she see's is the guy she loves. I don't see how I can make her see what she's doing to herself, Claire."

"You're her daughter," Claire said pointedly, "She'll have to listen to what you've got say at some point."

Kate knew she was right. It seemed like Claire was always right these days. She had a sudden flashback of the night before, remembering the heated arguement between her and her mother. She'd never beable to forget it. She'd never seen her mother like that. It had been truly terrifying.

"Mom.." she'd begun hesitantly, "I need to talk to you. It's about Wayne."

"Katherine, we are not gonna go through this again," her mother had answered sharply.

Kate had shrugged, "Well if we're not, then I'm going to stay at Claire's."

Her mother had given her a look that had temporarily iced her insides. She'd slowly set down the mop she'd been using to clean the kitchen floor, and had taken a step towards Kate, who knew how her mother liked to use cleaning as a substitute for feeling depressed over Wayne. Kate had looked at her mother and had seen the fear in her eyes, fear of Wayne, fear of everything at the moment.

"Wayne is the one," she'd taken a deep breath, "who puts food on this table."

"He's also the one who gives you a black eye atleast once every couple of weeks," Kate had replied through gritted teeth, determined to make her mother see sense, "I don't get why you defend him. He's done nothing for us. If Dad was here--"

Her mother had then interrupted her by slapping her hard across her face.

Kate had stood, frozen, watching her mother in disgust.

"Don't even think about bringing your Daddy into this, Katherine," her mother had warned, "He's gone, and without Wayne you know we'd both be out on the street. He does so much for us, keeps a roof over our heads. D'you really want to do this, Katherine? Get us thrown out onto the street?"

Kate had thought about saying something back but didn't. She'd still been reeling from the slap issued to her minutes before. She'd touched her cheek, and only just noticed that her face was flushed. She'd felt terrible for talking to her mother like that, but it had to be done.

"If you go to Claire's," her mother had begun shakily, "You're not comin' back here. I've just about had it with you, Katherine."

Kate had wanted to cry, but had fought back the tears in an attempt to show her mother that she wasn't bluffing, that she would indeed go to stay at Claire's if her mother wasn't going to give it up and leave Wayne. Part of her had wanted to hug her mother, hold her close and tell her that she'd try to protect her from him at all costs, but another part had felt no sympathy, no compassion, just pure anger towards her mother, and complete hatred towards Wayne.

"Then I guess," Kate had started, "I'll see you later."

She'd turned, headed out the kitchen and up the stairs before her mother could object. It was only then that she had let the sadness, the fear, in and felt the tears streaming down her hot face. She'd stopped at the top of the stairs and burst into tears, thinking of her Daddy, of Sam Austen. He'd been her hero, the only man she'd ever been able to love and trust. He'd been killed during the Gulf War, but he'd sent her a letter three weeks before it had happened telling her he loved her. Kate still kept that letter in her drawer in her bedroom, but had forgotten to take it out and pack it. Now she wished she had it with her, but was too afraid to go home again.

Her father would know what to do. She'd have probably been able to stay with him. But he was gone, and there was nothing Kate could do about it. She buried her head in her hands, closing her eyes and trying to focus. She couldn't think about him now. Otherwise she'd just fall apart really fast.

"Kate?"

Claire's voice. The voice of a concerned friend. Kate rose to it, happy that Claire was there for her like she'd always been there for her in the past. "I'll ask my mom if you can stay here, you don't look so good."

"No," Kate said quickly, "I'll be fine. I can't just sit around here all day."

"Are you sure?" Claire asked softly, wearing that concerned expression again.

Kate wasn't sure. To tell the truth, she felt awful. Not just emotionally or mentally, but physically aswell. Then, Claire's question was quickly answered when Kate suddenly felt a rush of nausea, and quick as grease lightning she leapt to her feet, ran out of the room, and across the hall to the bathroom, where she wretched for a good ten minutes before returning to Claire's room.

"So much for being fine," Claire said prudently, "You're staying here today, no arguements!"

Kate was in no position to argue anyway. She wasn't actually ill, she knew that, but she was still in shock after the other night. Her mother had never done that to her before. Maybe it was Wayne's bad attitude rubbing off on her. Either way, Kate was sure of one thing: she wasn't going back there until he was gone.

She started to shiver, and Claire gave her a blanket. "I'll go down and tell my mom. Don't worry, just get some sleep, okay?"

Kate nodded sleepily, and watched as Claire quietly left the room. She got back into the sleeping bag Claire had allowed her to use for the night, and slowly closed her eyes. As soon as she did, she was asleep once again. She dreamed she was walking alone down the street. She could see Jack in the distance, and he was waving to her, but no matter how fast she ran to catch up to him, she never could and a moment later he was gone.

She turned away and found Wayne standing infront of her. "You shouldn't have talked to your Ma like that," he said aggressively, baring his teeth at her and reaching out for her with powerful hands. She felt him grip her by her shoulders and screamed, then fell back onto the sidewalk. Wayne just laughed at her and continued to advance on her. Kate got quickly to her feet and ran from him. As soon as she was sure she'd gotten away from him, she stopped and took a breath. It was then that she noticed the figure standing before her.

It was her mother. She was sure of that. She was facing the other way, so Kate couldn't see her face. Kate stepped forward and gingerly placed a trembling hand on her shoulder. The figure spun round and it was Wayne, still laughing at her.

"You'll never get rid of me, Katie," he laughed, "I'll always be here, no matter what."

Then, the ground beneath her feet began to crumble, and she was falling..

Kate woke to find herself sitting bolt upright in a cold sweat. She took several deep breaths and then Claire reappeared in her robe, looking shocked. "Kate?" she began worriedly, rushing over to her, "Are you okay?"

"No," Kate began to sob, "No, no, no.."

A half hour later, Claire said goodbye to Kate and left. After throwing up another three times, Kate returned to Claire's bedroom, but was too afraid to sleep. That nightmare had seemed so real, that it had truly frightened her. The thing was, she just didn't want to be sitting there all day with nothing to do. She had to keep her mind occupied or she would go insane.

The morning dragged on, and Kate managed to sleep for several hours, before being jerked awake by a loud knock on the door. She looked up groggily to see Carol Littleton, Claire's mother, walking in with a cup of soup. Kate knew Carol quite well, having stayed over at Claire's house quite a few times. Carol was slim, pretty and blonde just like her daughter, and Kate had never been more glad to see her, for she was absolutely starving at that point.

"Hey, Kate," she said with a kindly smile, "Just thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks, Ms Littleton," Kate replied gratefully, taking the cup from her.

"Just let me know if you want anything else," Carol said, giving Kate another of her warm, motherly smiles before departing.

Kate as good as wolfed down the soup in a matter of seconds and was still hungry, but she didn't want Carol waiting on her hand and foot. Not wanting to fall asleep again, Kate dressed quickly and, though she was still feeling unwell, went downstairs. As she walked into the living room, she stumbled upon Carol on the phone.

"Yeah, but the thing is.." the older woman sighed, "Fine, I'll come in. But I can't stay all day. Yeah, bye."

She hung up with an angry look on her face. Kate wasn't sure what to do, but it was then that Carol noticed her standing there. "Oh, hey Kate. You should really stay in bed if you're not feeling too good. Listen, my Boss wants me to go in for a couple of hours, but I'll be back by this afternoon, okay?"

Kate nodded. "Okay," she said simply.

Carol smiled admirably at her, "Good girl," she said, and grabbed her coat, "I'll see you later, okay?"

Kate wasn't sure how she felt about being home alone in Claire's house. It felt strange and new, and she suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. She missed her mother, and wanted to be back at home more then anything, but she was afraid. Wayne was now surely aware of her departure and would probably be on the look out for her. It made her afraid to leave the house, though she had wanted to go to school anyway, just to keep her mind occupied.

The hours went by, and Kate tried desperatedly hard not to fall asleep. She watched some television, though nothing good was on anyway. She became aware that her eyelids were drooping and sighed. She'd have to go to sleep sooner or later, but wasn't sure if she could when she was there all by herself. Finally, she gave up and ascended the stairs, promising herself she would only rest for a half hour or so.

There was a sudden knock at the door.

Kate froze near the stop of the stairs, then dashed up them and into Claire's room. She stared out of the window to see who was there, and almost fainted.

It was him. It was Wayne.

Hardly able to believe that this was actually happening, Kate quickly turned away from the window and contemplated her situation. She was alone in the house, and Wayne, the bane of her life, was standing right outside. Kate heard him knocking again, and wanted to burst into tears. Instead, she threw on her jacket and shoes, and crept down the stairs, hoping to God he wouldn't see that she was in. She froze again when she heard him rap on the door once again, only louder this time. He was obviously getting impatient. It was time to move.

Kate moved into the kitchen, and spotted the back door. Though she knew she shouldn't leave the house unlocked like this, she didn't know what else to do. Wayne might even break in, and she wouldn't be there when he did. The cold air made her reel and she quietly shut the door. She spied on Wayne as he continued to stand there, wearing a scowl. Just as it seemed like he would actually go inside, he turned and left.

Feeling relief, Kate started to go back inside when she caught sight of him, jogging down the street. It was Jack. Kate drew breath, hardly believing that he was there. Then, for what reason she wasn't really sure, she found herself shouting, "Jack! Hey, Jack!"

Jack stopped and looked around, and Kate realized he couldn't see her.

"Jack," she repeated, stepping out so he could see her.

He relaxed and grinned when he saw her, "Hey, Kate. What are you doing out here?"

Kate smiled, "I was uh.. don't ask. What are you doing, anyway? Aren't you in college?"

"Yeah, but we broke up last week," Jack explained, and Kate found that her eyes were roaming his body. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he was, and how fit and healthy aswell. She snapped herself out of it with great difficulty.

"Umm, well.." Kate stood there, unsure of what to say next.

"You live here?" Jack inquired, glancing up at the house.

"Oh no, my friend Claire does," Kate explained to him, "I was staying over, but I'm not feeling well today, so.."

"Then why are you standing out here?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kate shrugged and blushed. "I.." she began, before a voice tore through her.

"Well, there you are."

Both Kate and Jack spun around, and Kate's heart sank. It was Wayne, walking towards them, no sign of that usual ugly smirk. He looked angry, no, _furious_. "What the hell are you doin', Kate? Your Ma's worried sick, y'know. An' you got the nerve to walk out and leave her? What the hell's wrong with you??"

"Woah," Jack began uneasily, "Who're you?"

Wayne shot him a nasty look, "Keep outta' this, boy. This is between me, an' her."

"No," Jack began coldly, "Who the hell are you?"

Kate backed away and hid behind Jack, who was obviously aware that she was afraid of him. "You'd better get the hell outta' my way, son. Or else this'll turn nasty, an' I don't want that," Wayne went on, a cruel smirk playing on his lips, "This your boyfriend, Kate? Little too old, ain't he?"

"Back off," Jack warned, as Wayne came closer.

"Make me," Wayne snarled, "She's comin' home with me. Now get--"

Kate was shocked when Jack lost it and punched Wayne, who cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Jack stared down at him, "She's not coming with you," he said angrily, glaring down at Wayne, who wiped the blood off his lip and laughed cruelly.

"Who the hell are you to tell me that?" he rasped, the smirk vanishing from his face.

He began to stand up, and Jack glanced nervously at Kate. "Come on, let's get out of here," he hissed to her, and Kate nodded. "Run," he added in an undertone.

Kate didn't need telling twice. She started to back off, then turned and broke into a run, hoping to God that Jack was still right behind her.

"Hey!" she heard Wayne yell, "_Hey!"_

Thankfully, Jack finally caught up with her and the two of them ran right down the street. Kate remembered this sort of thing happening in her dream, and shuddered as they came to a stop. "Is he gone?" she asked Jack, who nodded affirmative.

"Yeah," he added, panting, "Come on. We'd better get you somewhere safe."

Minutes later they arrived at Jack's house. "I'm sorry I got you into this," Kate said, on the verge of tears.

Jack smiled sadly, "Don't worry about it. Anyway, I wasn't gonna let him take you."

Touched by this, Kate followed him inside and he shut the door behind them.


	5. June 17th, 1994 Part II

_**June 17th, 1994**_

_Okay, so I bet you're thinking: "Why would she just walk in there? He's a complete stranger!" Well, maybe that was true. But there was absolutely no way I was going back there. Carol would be back in an hour or two anyway, it wasn't likely that she'd show up to find the house turned over. Well.. I'd hoped so, anyway. I didn't think Wayne was the sort who'd barge in there, anyway. He knew I wasn't there so what would be the point? Well anyway, I'd thought Jack was really sweet to defend me like that. I wasn't sure how long to give it before I would eventually have to return to the Littleton residence. I was practically shaking after the confrontation with Wayne. But Jack.. it was like he understood me, and what I was going through. I'm actually glad it happened now, because it sparked a new friendship between us._

---

She felt sick, and her head was pounding. Kate wondered how she was going to explain this to Carol and Claire. She knew she would be forced to come clean to Carol about Wayne and the real reason for why she had left home. The thought of doing that only made her feel worse. She slumped down against the wall and sighed.

Jack stared out of the window a moment longer, and Kate knew he was making sure Wayne wasn't around. Then, he noticed her sitting there and walked over, crouching down. "You okay?" he asked, looking worried for her.

"I wish I could be," Kate replied morosely.

"What's going on?" Jack asked, a serious look on his face.

Kate wasn't following. "What are you talking about?"

"C'mon, Kate. That creep shows up there, asking where you've been? What's going on? Has he hurt you?"

"No," Kate said quickly, "Well, not exactly."

"Okay," Jack said slowly, as if trying to make sense of it all, "What about your Mom?"

This time, Kate was forced to confess. She just couldn't stand having this secret, this burden, for any longer. It had been weighing her down, affecting her both emotionally and mentally, and now it was time to let it all out. She knew she didn't know Jack enough to be sharing this with him, but somehow it just felt right to tell him.

So, she told him the entire story. After she'd finished, Jack looked shocked. "So, this has been going on for how many months..?"

"Three of four, I think," Kate muttered, hardly able to think straight.

"What a creep," Jack said grimly, "He needs to be locked up."

"I know," Kate sighed, "but it's not going to be that easy. My mom.. she loves him."

"Ah," Jack nodded, "So she's not willing to leave him, then? Even after all he's done?"

"Nope," Kate answered, "Jack, I don't know what to do.."

"Hey," Jack said, lifting my chin up, "You don't have to be scared of him. I'm here, he's not gonna hurt you again, I promise."

Kate looked into his eyes, searching them. She knew he was being deadly serious, that he would protect her against Wayne. She could barely believe this stranger was treating her like a friend. Yet she found herself liking it, liking him for being this way to her. She'd never met anyone like him before.

She found the strength to smile. "Thanks, but you can't help me. As long as my mom defends him, nothing will ever happen to him."

"Then you need to try to get your mom to change her mind," Jack said firmly, "She can't keep doing this to you both, Kate."

"I can't think about this now," Kate groaned, raising a hand to her forehead, "I.."

Jack stood up and held out a hand to her, "Yeah, I get it. Come on, you can rest in here. We'll go back there in a while, once he's gone."

Not knowing of any other option, Kate took his hand and he helped her to her feet. He then led her through to what appeared to be the living room. Kate stared around and marveled at how well set out everything was. The room had a milky sort of quality to it. Both the sofas were creme coloured, as were the walls. There was a comfy looking brown chair sitting at the far end of the room. Beside it was a small wooden table. On closer inspection, Kate noticed a half-empty bottle of whisky sitting there.

She turned back to Jack, who had sat down on the sofa on the left side of the room. He'd obviously noticed her staring at the whisky bottle. "He drinks a lot," he began, in a sullen tone, "It wasn't that bad until recently. Now, he drinks all the time. I'm starting to think he even drinks at work, too."

"What does he do?" Kate inquired, sorry that she had been curious in the first place.

"He's a spinal surgeon. He used to work at St. Sebastian's in Los Angeles where we used to live, but now he's at St. Francis. That's basically why we moved here. I'll be doing my second year of college over here, too."

"Oh," Kate said, taking another glance around the room absently, "I guess you'll want to be a Doctor or something aswell, huh?"

"Well, that's the idea," Jack smiled, "It's a family business, really."

"I don't know what I want to do," Kate said, sitting down on the arm of the sofa, "My mom's a waitress. Wayne is a mechanic. I'll probably end up doing one of the two."

"No, I don't see you doing either of those," Jack replied congenially, giving her a fond gaze, "You be what you want to be. Don't try to follow in your parents' footsteps if you don't want to."

Kate laughed, "Then what are you doing?" she inquired sarcastically.

Jack nodded, "You have a point," he admitted, and the two of them burst into laughter.

After they stopped, Kate realized that she was no longer feeling uncomfortable. Though there was nothing but silence now, she felt like she could talk to him, even relate to him. She knew he was feeling the same way, because he was still smiling. For one strange, crazy moment, Kate felt like kissing him. It was totally beyond stupid, but that was the way she felt. He'd been so sweet, offering to protect her like this. She truly hoped this would not be their last meeting.

Kate felt herself sliding down off the arm and onto the sofa. Jack didn't move, he appeared to be frozen. His smile was begining to waver, and he looked nervous. Kate knew how he felt, yet she couldn't stop herself. She was suddenly sitting right beside him. As she gently leaned in towards him, Jack moved away.

"He'll probably be.." he began weakly, standing up and walking to the other end of the room, "He'll probably be gone now. We should get you back there."

"Okay," Kate replied, feeling slightly embarrassed, "Thanks for this, Jack."

"It's no problem," Jack said, though his voice had changed. Kate suddenly felt awful for putting him in a position like that. Yet she hadn't been able to stop herself. She wondered if he liked her back, or if she just made him feel uncomfortable and if he was only doing this out of the goodness of his heart.

Nevertheless, he still managed a smile, "It was nice to see you again, Kate."

"Yeah, you too," Kate replied with a small smile.

They left the house and walked down the street, back to Claire's house. Once they arrived, Kate was relieved to see that Carol hadn't arrived back yet. She closed the door behind them, and Jack stood around awkwardly, looking unsure of what to say next.

"Maybe I should stay.." he began, "Just until uh, Carol gets home."

"Yeah," Kate said at once, her heart jumping at the idea, "You can help yourself to something in the fridge, I don't think Carol would mind."

"Thanks," Jack said and headed into the kitchen, "You want anything?"

"Just a glass of milk, thanks," Kate called, then began to cough.

Jack turned back to her and frowned. "You need to lay down," he said sternly, walking back to her.

_I will if you lay down with me, _a sultry voice in Kate's head said. Kate cursed herself in her head for thinking such things. How could she be thinking like this now, when Wayne would surely be back later, plus she would have to explain Jack's being there to Carol and Claire. _And, _she'd be forced to come clean to Carol, who would most likely contact the police.

"I will," she said to Jack, scrapping the part that annoying little voice inside her head was pressing her to say. She then lay down on the couch, resting her head against a pillow. She sighed and closed her eyes, glad that the overwhelming feeling of nausea had now vanished completely. All she wanted to do now was sleep.

Right on cue, just as she shut her eyes, the door opened. Kate instinctively jumped to her feet, thinking it might be Wayne again. However, she was relieved to see Carol standing infront of her. The other woman dropped the bags she'd been holding as soon as she saw Jack.

"Kate.." she began slowly, "Who is this?"

"Carol," Kate began, "I can explain."

"Mrs Littleton," Jack said, appearing at her side. "Mrs Littleton, I'm sorry about this. But Kate has something she needs to tell you."

Carol glanced from this stranger to her daughter's best friend with a confused expression on her face.

"It's.." Kate began in an almost inaudible murmer, "Wayne, my stepdad, he came around here about an hour ago, maybe more. He wouldn't go so I tried to sneak out of the house. I met Jack when I did, and Wayne confronted us. We were forced to run from him. Jack brought me back here a few minutes ago."

Carol's expression immidiately softened at this revelation. "Oh, dear. I'm so sorry, Kate. I didn't mean to be angry. Jack, right? Thanks a lot."

Jack smiled and nodded. "It's okay. But that's not all, is it Kate?"

Though she did indeed like him a lot, Kate suddenly wanted to hit Jack, hard. She cast a glare at him then tried to smile sweetly at Carol. "Well, I.." she hesitated, and hung her head. "Wayne.. has been hurting my mom. He tried to hurt me, too. That's why I came to stay here. Claire knew and she made me come. I'm sorry, Carol.."

Carol looked shocked, "Oh my god.." she began, raising a hand up to her mouth.

Jack had that awkward look on his face again. "I'd better go. I'll see you, Kate."

"Thanks so much for this," Carol thanked him, "If you hadn't been here.."

"Hey, it's nothing," Jack said, though he smiled and Kate could tell that he was feeling very pleased with himself, even if he refused to show it. He didn't say anything else, and left the two of them alone. Kate watched dismally as the door closed behind him.

Carol's lip curled and she turned to Kate. "You thought you could keep this from me?"

"I'm sorry," Kate muttered, hardly in the mood for a lecture.

The older woman smiled warmly and placed her hands on Kate's shoulders. "Don't worry, hon. You can stay here for as long as it takes to get this whole mess straightened out." with that she reached for the phone.

Kate's eyes widened. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Carol's smiled faltered. "Calling the police," she said, as if it was obvious.

"No," Kate began in protest, reaching out to take the phone from her.

Carol held it back, "Kate, you might be afraid of what could happen if I do this, but it needs to be done. If Wayne is the scumbag you say he is, then he needs to be dealt with, and now before he can do anymore damage to you or your mother."

She began to dial, and Kate suddenly felt helpless. Carol had always been nice to her, but what she was doing was wrong. Wayne would know that Kate had told, and then he would come for her. He'd find some way to shake the cops and then he'd come for her. He wouldn't let her get off so easily, she knew it.


	6. June 19th, 1994 Part I

_**June 19th, 1994**_

_It's funny to be writing about this now. My husband would probably go nuts if he knew I was doing this. Well, if he ever finds out, let him. This is my past, my story. Anyway, I was itching to see Jack again after he helped me out, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Then I remembered the party on Saturday, and that I was going with Jason. My heart sank. I began to wonder if Jack was going, afterall Shawn O'Neal was in college himself, so maybe.. still, I had Carol on my back. Luckily I'd managed to stop her from phoning the police. I just needed some time before that happened. Still, when would be the right time to turn Wayne in? Would there ever be a right time? Or was I just too afraid?_

---

Kate awoke extremely early the very next morning, and slowly began to realize that this would be one of the longest days in her entire life. Carol hadn't stopped urging her to call her mother, and to Kate's dismay Claire had even been doing the same. Groaning, she buried her face into her pillow. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, she'd had one of those dreams again. This time, Wayne had been telling her not to call the cops, or else he'd kill her mother, and then come for her, too. It had seemed so real that Kate had actually woke during the night with tears streaming down her face. Luckily, Claire was sound asleep, Kate noticed as she looked to her side. She could hear Claire's light snores, suggesting that her friend was in a deep sleep and not about to wake up anytime soon. Kate then checked the clock on Claire's bedside table, and saw that it was only four in the morning.

She began to reminisce, something she rarely did. It wasn't like Kate to dwell on the past, it just wasn't in her nature. But for once she was, wishing that they'd never met Wayne, that her mother had never been charmed by him in the first place. They'd been doing okay, even after Sam's, Kate's father, death. Over a year had passed and Kate had been glad to see that her mother was finally moving on. However, what she didn't expect to find one night as she returned home from school, was another man in their house, sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a beer.

That's when it started. The moment they were introduced. Kate disliked him instantly, and knew he could probably tell. He always had this look in his eyes, like he wanted something, and Kate had always known what that was. At first things had been fine. Then, the quarreling had started, over Wayne of course. Kate made sure she bitched about Wayne to her mother atleast once every day, hoping that maybe if she did it enough her mother would see sense and leave him. No such luck, apparently her mother was drawn to Wayne like she had been with no other man, not even Sam.

"You need to eat breakfast," Diane said, throwing her daughter a stern look as Kate made for the front door.

Kate shook her head, hand already on the doorknob. "I can't be late, mom. I told you, I'm meeting Claire."

"I don't care, Katherine," Diane replied briskly, shaking her head, "Sit down, and you can be out of here in ten minutes."

Kate was in no position to argue with her. "Fine, I'll get some toast or something and eat it on the way."

Diane didn't appear to have a problem with this. Ten minutes later, Kate was nibbling a piece of toast as she prepared to walk out the door. She looked hesitantly back at her mother, wondering whether it was worth mentioning Wayne, now that she was apparently in a good enough mood to discuss it. "Mom?"

Diane looked up curiously. "What is it? I thought you said you needed to be out of here in ten minutes."

_Forget Claire, _Kate thought to herself, feeling slightly guilty, but this was important. She needed to make herself heard.

"It's about Wayne," she started, setting down her things and sitting back down at the table.

"We are not going through this again," Diane snapped, glaring back at her daughter.

"We have to," Kate said impatiently, "I don't like him, Mom. You must know that by now."

"I know it," Diane breathed, getting up and starting to clear the table. That was how she kept her cool, Kate knew. If she was ever angry or upset she'd just clean, or find a way to keep herself busy. "I've just been trying to work out why you dislike him so much, Katherine. He's been nothing but good to you, to us both, and you still treat him like he's doing something wrong. I don't understand it, I doubt I ever will."

"It's not that," Kate said exasperatedly, standing up and walking over to the sink where her mother stood. "Listen to me, Mom! I just don't like him, okay? There's something about him that makes me nervous, or scared even. It's the way he looks at you, okay?"

Diane turned around and faced her daughter, a furious look on her face. "He loves me, Katherine. I love him. Until you learn to understand that.."

Kate shook her head. "I can't believe this," she said in disgust, turning on her heel and grabbing her things.

"You're finally leaving?" Diane asked in a mocking tone, "Good. Maybe later on you'll have the decency to apologize to me. And Katherine, Wayne's coming over later, so I don't want you saying anything like this to him, understand? Better yet, don't go near him. Not until you can learn to respect him."

"I'll never respect him," Kate said through gritted teeth, "He doesn't respect you. He doesn't respect anyone. The pig.."

If she'd been near enough, Kate knew her mother would have hit her for saying that. As it was, Diane just stood motionless, watching her daughter as if seeing her for the first time, then seemed to relax. "You'd better go, or you'll be late. G'bye, Katherine."

Kate just stared at her, then left the house, feeling worse than she had in a very long time. She knew Claire would be waiting for her, probably pissed at the fact she'd had to wait an extra ten minutes. Still, Kate barely cared. She knew things were only set to get worse regarding Wayne. She didn't trust him, and knew there would be trouble soon if she didn't try to do something.

---

That day, Diane had asked Wayne to move in with them, and Kate had known it was just to spite her. To her horror, Wayne had accepted, and a week later they were all living under the same roof. Thinking back to that time, when her mother had regarded her with an icy indifference after Kate's harsh words about Wayne, made Kate sad, yet she didn't feel an ounce of guilt about it. Her mother had chosen to get seriously involved with Wayne, and the worst had happened. The marks on her arms had began to appear a few weeks after Wayne moved in. Then one day she showed up after work with a black eye. Kate had been too nervous to comfort her, and too nervous to confront Wayne. Now, sitting here alone in Claire's room, she wondered how her mother was doing and whether she should go and visit her. Still, now wasn't the time for that. She'd have to leave for the party soon.

The last day of school had been considerably average, and Kate had been relieved when it had finally ended. Claire had spent the entire day going on about how this summer would be a total blast, while Charlie hadn't said much; he'd been too busy writing songs, as usual.

Tonight was quite important for Kate. She couldn't actually believe she was going through with it. The last time she'd been on a date was with Tom, though his idea of a date had been sitting at his house, eating pizza and drinking beer while watching some dumb action flick. It had been a while since she and Tom had broken up, and she was quite nervous about going out with someone new. Still, she'd forgotten what it was like to be with someone, to love someone, so she was quite looking forward to it. Besides, Jason seemed like a nice enough guy. She hadn't fallen head over heels in love with him when they'd first met, but maybe she could grow to really care about him if they spent enough time together.

After applying her make-up, Kate stood and walked over to the large mirror by the window, and took a look at herself. She was wearing a halter top, mini-skirt and heels. Jason had called her earlier and when she'd asked what would be okay to wear, he'd replied, "Just something casual, or whatever you want." Kate had gone with the latter. Besides, she suspected many of the other girls would be wearing the same sort of outfit anyway. It was a party, afterall.

Just then, Claire entered. "Wow, you look great!" she remarked, grinning at Kate, who blushed.

"Is it not a bit much?" Kate queried, stealing another glance at herself in the mirror.

Claire shook her head. "No way, you look fantastic, honestly. Just go and have a good time, okay?"

"Yeah," Kate said with a small smile, though her smile faded when she realized that Jason would be here in under ten minutes to pick her up. "Is Jason here yet?"

"That's what I came up to tell you," Claire said, "he's downstairs, waiting for you."

Kate's heart jumped and she began to panic. "Now? But I might need a few more minutes.."

"No ifs, ands, or buts," Claire said firmly, pushing Kate out of the room, "You look fine, better than fine actually."

Kate looked back at her and suddenly felt a pang of guilt. "Aren't you going to come?" she asked.

"And steal your thunder? No way," Claire said, and the two of them giggled. "No, I'm seeing Charlie tonight anyway, so I can't."

"Use protection!" Kate joked, and Claire jabbed her hard in the ribs, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"Yeah, whatever," Claire said with a grin, "Now get down there, missy, and for pete's sake enjoy yourself!"

Kate did as she was told, atleast the first part, and followed Claire downstairs to meet Jason. He looked like he always did, dressed in a casual manner, in a plain blue shirt and jeans. Kate hoped to God that she hadn't overdone it and dressed up too much for this. Still, Jason didn't look disappointed.

"Kate," he said as she walked up, "You look.. great."

"Uh, thanks," Kate mumbled, too shy to look up.

"Wanna get going?" Jason asked, and when Kate managed a nod he grinned. "C'mon, then. Cars just outside."

Kate glanced at Claire, who nodded and winked. However, Kate still wasn't sure she wanted to do this. She hadn't seen Jack since the day he'd helped her with Wayne, and thought maybe he was avoiding due to what had happened. The thought made her feel quite uneasy, but she was soon shaken out of it by Jason, who led her outside, closing the door behind them. As they approached his car, Kate was aware of a sinking feeling in her stomach, but tried to ignore it. Tonight wasn't about worrying over Jack or Wayne or anything else. She just had to try to enjoy herself, like any girl her age.

"Ready to go?" she heard Jason ask.

"Yeah," Kate replied, and opened the passengers door and got inside.

---

The party was already in full swing when they arrived. Kate could see atleast a dozen cars pulled up outside, and began to get nervous again. She didn't often go to house parties like this, and she hadn't done in a long time. "It'll be cool," Jason reassured her, though this didn't make her feel any better.

As they started up the drive and up to the front door, Kate's heart began to pound in her ears. She wondered what kind of people would be in there, and whether they'd like her or not. Jason seemed oblivious to the fact that she would rather just turn around and go home, and he rang the doorbell. A moment later, a girl with long, dark hair opened the door and stared the two of them down. "Hey, Jase," she said cheerily, giving him a hi five. She then turned to Kate and studied her before asking, "Who's this?"

"This is Kate," Jason said, and Kate felt him put his arm around her. "I invited her."

The girl nodded. "Cool. Well, I'm Tonya. Come on in."

They did, and Tonya closed the door behind them. It was so loud inside that Kate could barely hear Jason when he asked if she wanted anything to drink. "No thanks!" she yelled over the blaring stereo, "I'll just go and sit down!"

"Sure!" Jason yelled back, and disappeared with Tonya into the kitchen.

Kate glanced around and wondered what she should do next. She walked into what she thought was the living room. Most of the people in there were on their feet and dancing to the music, and most of them also looked like they'd had more than a couple of beers already, though it was barely past nine. Kate stared around the room, trying to find someone she recognized, but most of them looked like they were in college, some even looked younger than her.

Jason reappeared at that moment with two beers. "Here you go," he said, offering one to her.

Kate was about to say no, but she didn't want to make it seem like she wasn't having a good time. Jason had asked her to come here with him, so she had to make it seem like she was enjoying herself. "Thanks," she said, taking it from him and taking a drink. She didn't like to drink often, but this didn't taste half bad. She took another drink and smiled up at him.

"You wanna dance, or..?" Jason started, looking slightly uncomfortable for the first time since picking her up.

"Can't you introduce me to some of your friends?" Kate said, and mentally kicked herself.

Jason nodded, "Yeah, sure. Shawn's just back there, and this is his party, so.."

Kate didn't really want to meet any of Jason's friends, but she had no choice now. Jason led her out of the living room, back into the hall and then through to the kitchen. In there, they found three boys standing by the counter, and also a girl standing next to them. "Is this your girlfriend?" one of them asked.

"This is Kate," Jason said, looking embarrassed at this comment.

"Nice to meet you," another boy said, who Kate presumed to be Shawn O'Neal, the host. "Don't let him give you too much of that stuff. Some girl already puked up half her guts in the bathroom earlier."

Kate was slightly alarmed at this statement and stared uneasily at her beer. "Uh, thanks for the tip," she said finally.

"Anyway, I'm Shawn," the boy who had just spoke said, "This is Joe, Sawyer and Ana."

Kate stared at the other two boys and the girl, who were all wearing mocking grins. Kate tried to avoid their gaze. "Hey Sawyer, wasn't Jack meant to be coming tonight?" Joe asked, and Kate's heart jumped. She stood frozen as Sawyer shook his head.

"Nah, well he said he would if he could, but he said he needed to do somethin' first, I dunno.."

"So he has a new girlfriend?" Ana inquired with a wicked grin.

Joe snorted. "As if, he never goes out with girls anymore. He's always too busy."

"Not true," Sawyer interrupted, and they all looked at him, even Kate. "He was talkin' to me about some girl he just met. How he really likes her, but can't go out with her or somethin'. I dunno if he's lyin' or what, I mean it wouldn't be the first time.."

"Like that time he said he was goin' back out with Sarah but it turned out she was already with someone else," Joe chimed in, and they all laughed.

"Enough about Jack," Sawyer said, sounding irritated, "When's that Shannon chick getting here?"

At this, Kate's heart immidiately sank. Shannon? As in _Shannon Rutherford, _one of the most annoying girls Kate had ever come across? She was coming? To this party? _Tonight?_

"Shannon's coming? Shannon Rutherford?" she blurted out, unable to stop herself.

"Joe has the hots for her," Sawyer explained, "Even though she's only seventeen, and he knows it."

"Who cares," Joe said distractedly, "I mean uh, y'know.."

"Shut up, Joe," Ana groaned, "But yeah, Shannon Rutherford, the bimbo you love to hate."

Kate couldn't help but smile at this. "Uh, Kate?"

She suddenly remembered Jason, who was standing there looking clueless. "Oh!" she squeaked, having forgotten he was there, "Yeah, uh, let's go.." she said, taking his hand and leading him out of the kitchen. She had wanted to stay and talk with Sawyer, Joe and Ana, who all seemed pretty decent, but she didn't want Jason to be angry with her.

"They're an annoying bunch, right?" Jason said, and Kate laughed.

"Nah, they're okay," she said truthfully smiling, "Can we sit down?"

"Yeah, sure," Jason said, and they found a place to sit that was out of the way of all the loud music and people dancing. "Look, Kate, the reason I invited you is because I really do like you, and I don't know how you feel about me, but I like to hope that you like me too. So do you?"

"Uh.." Kate didn't like being put on the spot like this. She couldn't exactly tell him that she didn't like him, could she?

"Hey, I'm sorry," Jason said, looking embarrassed.

"No, it's okay, I just.."

Then he kissed her. It felt nice, to be kissed by someone new. Kate kissed him back and then they pulled apart, both wearing smiles.

"That was, nice.." Kate breathed, starting to wonder if she really did like Jason afterall.

Jason grinned, "I do try," he said, and they both laughed.

"Look, I.."

"Hey, everybody!"

Kate stopped in mid sentence to look up and see what was going on.

"Shannon's here!"


	7. June 19th, 1994 Part II

_**June 19th, 1994**_

_Everyone knew Shannon Rutherford. She was head of the cheerleading squad for one thing, and it seemed to be Shannon's mission in life to make Highschool a misery for everyone around her. She was constantly looking for excuses to pick on someone, and if she couldn't find one, she'd start some rumour about the person to humiliate them. I'd strongly disliked her, mostly because she had once tried to steal Tom away from me while they'd been going out. That was another thing about Shannon. If she liked your boyfriend, she'd do whatever she could to make him hers. Well, I was hardly pleased about the fact that she was going to be there. I knew she disliked me aswell, but I promised myself as soon as I saw her approaching the house that I wouldn't even speak to her, and I sure as hell wouldn't let Jason talk to her either. Still, I did end up speaking to her, and it resulted in one of the worst nights of my entire life._

---

"Shannon's here!"

Kate rolled her eyes as everyone went up to the windows to see Shannon approaching. Moments later she came through the door, without even knocking, wearing that stupid forced smile of hers. "Hey, everybody," she said sweetly, and Kate tried hard not to grimace. "Sorry I'm late and all.. where's Shawn at?"

She was dressed provocatively, to say the least. She was wearing a very revealing tube top and showing too much cleavage for Kate's liking, and a mini-skirt much like the one Kate herself was wearing, plus heels. She stalked right past Kate without even giving her a glance and disappeared into the kitchen with the girls she'd arrived with. As soon as she was gone, everything returned to normal. Kate breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, glad that's over," she muttered, glancing distastefully at the way Shannon had just gone.

Jason looked puzzled. "You don't like her?" he asked.

Kate snorted, "No way," she said, as if it were obvious.

"Good, neither do I," Jason agreed with her, "She's a total slut if I ever did see one."

"Your friend seems to like her," Kate remarked with a grin.

"Who? Joe?" Jason laughed out loud, "He's just kidding around. They all think she's hot, but it doesn't mean they _like her."_

Kate smiled, relieved at this revelation. "D'you wanna dance or something?"

Jason looked slightly amused by this. "You wanna dance?"

"Well that's why I asked," Kate said sarcastically, giving him a cynical smile, "Are you gonna stand there all night?"

Five minutes later they were dancing alongside everyone else. _Sweet Jane _by _Cowboy Junkies _was playing on the stereo, which wasn't a very loud song, so most were slow dancing to it. Kate no longer felt uncomfortable about this, she was actually having a really good time with Jason. However, towards the end of the song he said something that dampened her mood a little.

"So," he started uncertainly, "What were you trying to say to me, before we were interrupted by the slut?"

Kate couldn't help but laugh, "Umm, it's nothing really. I can't even remember."

"Kate.." Jason started, looking nervous, "D'you like me? I'll understand if you don't.."

"I don't really know right now," Kate said, and this wasn't a lie, she wasn't sure how she felt about him yet. She was about to say something else when there was a loud crash that sounded like it had come from the kitchen. Both Kate and Jason stopped dancing to find out what had happened. A moment later, Shawn stumbled out of the kitchen, clearly intoxicated, accompanied by Shannon who by the looks of it was trying to keep him upright.

"It's okay!" she said to everyone, "He's just a little out of it."

Everyone started to laugh at Shawn, who didn't appear to mind much. "What's say me an' you go upstairs, baby?" he said to Shannon, slurring his words slightly.

Shannon scoffed at this, "Yeah right! In your _dreams, _O'Neal," she said, and pushed him away from her, causing him to fall to the floor.

Kate rolled her eyes as Shannon joined everyone in the living room and fell into conversation with a group of girls standing in the middle of the room. She turned back to Jason and smiled up at him. To think she had been worried about coming here, but things had actually turned out pretty well. She was enjoying this, being with him, even when she was surrounded by people she didn't even know or recognise.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked a moment later as the song ended.

Kate let go of him and frowned. "Of course I am. Why shouldn't I be?"

Jason shrugged, "You just look distracted, that's all. Is it because of her?"

Kate looked over at Shannon and shook her head. As if she could be distracted by that bimbo. She laughed, "Let's sit down, okay? I think I need a drink."

She hadn't been planning on drinking much that night, but for some reason she felt exhausted already. She hadn't been able to get much sleep over the last few days; she'd had a lot on her mind. Still, she hoped she would beable to stay awake for a while longer. She followed Jason to a vacant armchair and sat down in it, while he sat perched on the arm.

Kate wondered whether Jack would show up tonight. Apparently he had been thinking about it, but would he bother to show up? Kate doubted it, but at the back of her mind she hoped that he would. She hadn't seen him in a couple of days. She just wanted to get the chance to talk to him again, that was all.

"I'll just get us more drinks," Jason said in an undertone to her, and made for the kitchen.

Kate slumped back in the chair, completely relaxed, watching all that was going on around her. Shawn had managed to pick himself up off the ground, without help from anyone as everyone seemed to find the fact that he was stone drunk so very amusing. He was now trying to chat up some girl that Kate didn't recognise. Naturally the girl rebuffed him, but Shawn just laughed to himself as she walked away. Kate couldn't help but smile aswell. She really was having a great time.

After several minutes, Jason still hadn't returned. Kate glanced around for him, and was about to get up and go look for him when she noticed that Shannon was approaching her. "Wonderful," Kate muttered to herself as the other girl walked up, closely followed by two other girls. However, Kate wouldn't let her night be ruined by Shannon Rutherford. She glanced up at the girl, who was looking extremely smug.

"Hi, Kate," she said in a mocking tone, "What are you doing here?"

"What does it matter?" Kate asked, though by now her heart was pounding. She didn't want to cause a scene.

Shannon just smirked. "You're with Jason, aren't you?"

Kate suddenly felt hot, but tried to keep her temper. "So what if I am?"

"No, it's okay, it's just.." Shannon bit her lip and said in an undertone, "He's a bit of a creep, if you ask me."

Kate was barely aware that she was now standing. She glared into the other girl's eyes. "Well, I didn't ask you. And what do I care what you think, anyway?"

She made to push past the other girl but Shannon blocked her way. "Well, I was just warning you! I went out with him once, and it didn't end well."

Kate snorted. "Get out of my way," she growled, and suddenly she was pushing Shannon back with such force that the other girl fell back and landed on her side. By now everyone had turned to see what was going on. Kate started to walk past, wanting more than anything to get out of there before things got worse, when a hand went around her ankle and she fell forwards. She heard Shannon laugh as she hit the floor.

"Bitch," she heard Shannon shriek, "Don't fucking push me like that!"

Kate was on her feet for no more than five seconds before a fist came into contact with her jaw. Kate felt white hot pain as she fell back onto the floor. She lay there, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Then she placed a finger on her lip, and discovered that it was bleeding. After wiping wiping the fresh blood onto her sleeve, she managed to rise to her feet again, and was relieved when she didn't recieve another blow like last time.

Shannon looked victorious as she stood there, sneering at her. The whole room was silent as everyone watched to see what would happen next. Kate knew she should be embarrassed that this was happening but somehow she couldn't be. Without another word, Kate started to leave the room, and just as she approached the doorway she heard Shannon say, "So she just walks away. I knew it."

Then somehow Kate's legs began to move without her knowledge and she was running towards the middle of the room, arm raised to strike, when she felt someone grabbing her from behind. She looked up to see who it was, absolutely furious at this point. She started to relax when she saw that it was Jason. "Kate, what are you doing?" he asked, looking shocked.

Kate shook her head and took one last glance at Shannon before turning on her heel and leaving the room. As soon as she was out of there, the chatter started again, and she knew that they were all discussing her and what had just happened. Jason led her into the hall before speaking. "What the hell just happened?" he asked, goggling at her, though he looked slightly amused.

"I don't know exactly," Kate said, "Things just got out of control."

"I can see that," Jason said, "Your lip's bleeding."

"I know," Kate muttered, "Listen, d'you mind giving me a ride home? I just feel like I can't stay here after this.."

Jason looked disappointed but he nodded. "Yeah, sure. If that's what you want."

They left minutes later, and as Kate walked to Jason's car, she couldn't help but feel that her chances of being with him were now in ruins. She could see that he was uncomfortable after what had happened between her and Shannon. As they approached the car, Kate stopped and said, "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"It's okay," Jason said quietly, "She can be a real bitch sometimes."

"Yeah," Kate said, thinking back to what Shannon had said before their fight, "Did you go out with her once?"

Jason froze, and glanced up at her. "How d'you know about that?"

"Shannon told me," Kate said, "Just before we.. you know."

Jason nodded, "Yeah," he said bitterly, "But nothing really happened. Like I said, she was a bitch."

Kate smiled, atleast they agreed on one thing. She opened the door as Jason unlocked the car and they both got inside. As Jason started the engine, Kate glanced back at the house sadly, wishing that it hadn't had to end like this. She hoped he would want to see her again, anyway.

However, Jason suddenly stopped the car. He looked hesitant as he slowly started to speak. "Kate.. I know I asked this already, but do you like me?"

Kate bit her lip nervously. "I guess I do," she said truthfully. Yes, she did like him.

Jason smiled. "Good, because I really like you too."

He edged closer to her, and Kate could feel his breath hot on her face. Before she knew what was happening, they were kissing, right there in his car. In response to this she kissed him back with more force and wrapped her arms around his neck. For several minutes, Kate was in heaven. She had never been kissed like this, and it felt so damn good that she didn't want it to stop. However, she knew that she should get back to Claire's soon. She didn't want to go any further, not right now anyway, when she barely even knew Jason.

"We have to go," she said breathlessly through kisses, "They'll be expecting me back soon.."

"Just a little longer," Jason said, "Please."

Kate tried to push him away but his hand had now moved to her thigh, and then she felt it slowly sliding up her skirt. "Jason.." she started, grabbing his hand and trying to make him stop, but he would do no such thing. "Jason," she said again, more urgently this time, and tried to push him off, but he wasn't going to stop and she knew it.

The wonderful feeling Kate had felt before was now being replaced with a less than pleasant feeling as Jason pushed up against her. She did not want this, didn't want to do this here. She tried again to push him away but he was overpowering her, preventing her from stopping him. "Jason," she exclaimed, "Get off me!"

"Why," she heard Jason mutter, "I thought you liked me."

Kate's eyes grew wide as he started to pull on her skirt. She tried to scream but a hand clamped over her mouth, preventing her from doing so. She couldn't believe that this was happening. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have let this happen? He had seemed like such a nice guy, such a _nice guy.._

She raised her arm to hit him but his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, while the other continued to yank her skirt. Kate wanted to cry, but she was too shocked, too afraid to do so. All she could do was lay there as he yanked down her skirt and started to tug at her blouse. The tears started to run down her face a moment later as she knew what was about to happen.

"Jason.." she whispered, "Please.. don't.. _help!"_

And she cried out as he hit her, _hard._

And then the car door flew open.

Kate watched in horror as someone proceeded to pull Jason out by the scruff of his shirt. She wiped the tears away and got out of the car to see what was happening. Her mouth fell open when she walked around to the other side of the car. It was Jack, and he was laying into Jason, punching the other boy with so much force that Kate feared he would do something stupid in a moment.

"Jack," she cried, "Get off him! Please!"

Jack said nothing and continued to pummel the other boy with his fists.

Kate ran over and grabbed him, trying to pull him off, and finally she succeeded. She and Jack fell back to the ground, while Jason lay infront of them, panting loudly. Kate could see that his nose was broken; fresh blood was running down his face and onto his shirt. She quickly got hold of Jack to make sure that he didn't do anything else.

"Don't," she said firmly to him, "It's okay, honestly."

"No it's not," Jack said grimly, getting to his feet and staring down at the other boy in disgust. "I saw what he was doing to you."

"Jack," Kate started quickly as Jack moved towards Jason, "Please don't do this. He's not worth it."

Jack turned and stared at her. Then he walked over to her, and Kate fell into his arms. She let it all out, and stood there sobbing hysterically into his chest. She had been so frightened that it had felt surreal. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. She was just glad that Jack had been there to stop it from happening.

After a moment he glanced down at her. "I'll take you home," he said softly, "Is that okay?"

Kate sniffed and nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

A crowd of onlookers had appeared nearby, and more people were filing out of the house to get a look at Jack and Kate as they stood there, and also Jason as he lay there on the ground, badly beaten by Jack. Kate didn't care in the slightest. She was glad that Jack had done it. She was thankful that he had been there to save her.


	8. June 21st, 1994

_**AN: **__Yes, finally another update! Tis a bit short but I hope that the contents of the chapter make up for that. Enjoy, amigos!_

_**June 21**__**st**__**, 1994**_

_I hadn't wanted to do anything about it. I'd just wanted to let it go. Maybe, just maybe, if I forgot it ever happened then maybe Jason would, too. That's where I was wrong. He wasn't about to let it go just yet._

---

"So what do you think? That one or this one?"

Kate barely heard her. The television was on, and though her eyes were fixed on the screen, Kate wasn't even sure of what she was watching. Two long, hard and stressful days had passed since the incident at Shawn O'Neal's party. Since then, Kate had barely said a word to anyone, even Claire, who had been trying to coax her out of this strange mood she was in since yesterday. Kate thought of Jack, who had disappeared again after taking her home that night. She sighed and hung her head, wishing he was here now.

"Kate? _Kate!"_

Kate glanced up, surprised. She noticed Claire standing there, hands on her hips. "Sorry, what?" she mumbled, staring at the floor again.

"What's wrong with you?" Claire asked, sounding extremely irritated. Kate could hardly blame her. She was totally oblivious to the fact to what Jason had tried to do at the party. Kate hadn't wanted to tell her. She'd tell Carol, and then Carol would want to get the cops involved. Kate had decided that it was better to just let it go.

"You've been acting like this ever since that party," Claire said, sounding suspicious, "Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened," Kate sighed in exasperation, closing her eyes.

Claire snorted, "Yeah, right! I don't believe you. You know I'm going to figure this out whether you like it or not, right?"

"Go ahead," Kate snapped angrily, just wanting to be left alone.

She expected Claire to come out with an angry retort, but to her surprise her friend said nothing to this, and silence filled the air. Kate twiddled her thumbs, waiting for Claire to say something. Then she heard the slamming of the door, and knew she was now alone.

She had to get out of there. She was sick of Claire hovering over her, demanding to know why she was acting this way. Kate listened for anyone coming, but couldn't hear anything. She then slowly got to her feet and turned up the volume of the television. Once this was done, she crept to the window and opened it, then climbed down. Her first thought was to go and see Jack, then she stopped. He obviously didn't want to see her, or he'd have come by to see how she was. Kate tried not to feel upset at this, but couldn't help it. She wanted to see him so badly, but was afraid that he didn't want to see her.

In the end, she decided she'd just go around to the park to be alone with her thoughts for a while. With that, Kate took off for the park, glancing cautiously over her shoulder as she walked down the street, checking for Carol or Claire coming out to see where she had gone.

Finally she reached the park, and to her surprise it was empty apart from an old man sitting on a bench nearby. Kate walked to a vacated bench and sat down. For some odd reason she was exhausted, despite the fact that she had spent most of her time since the night of the party sleeping. She just wanted to lay down on the bench and close her eyes..

Kate's eyes flew open.

The first thing she noticed was that it was now considerably darker than it had been when she'd first arrived. She then realised to her embarrassment that she had managed to fall asleep right here on the bench. She glanced around blearily, but the area was deserted. Groaning, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, then took a glance at her watch. Great, it was already coming up to nine o'clock. Kate was rather reluctant to go back to Claire's, but knew she had no choice. Anyway, if she stayed out any longer, they'd come and find her sooner or later, and then she'd be in even bigger trouble.

Kate got clumsily to her feet and stumbled slightly, trying to get her bearings. She was still half asleep. Stiffling a yawn, she started to leave the park, then stopped suddenly. A group of kids around her age had just come into view, and with them.. no, it couldn't be. Kate watched horrified as Jason appeared alongside them, looking extremely smug, which made Kate's blood boil. Figuring that she had better get out of there quickly, Kate glanced around desperatedly, then without thinking made a dive for the bushes by the bench, and crouched down.

She could hear them walking by, and tried to ignore the fact that her heart was pounding in her ears. "..going to Jen's," she heard one of them say, "Jase, are you coming or what?"

"Yeah," Jason said, though something in his voice unnerved Kate, "I'll be there in a minute, okay? I'm just gonna have a smoke out here, you know what Jen's mom thinks about _smoking, _right?"

Kate heard a couple of Jason's friends laugh, then listened intently as the footsteps died away. She breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that it was okay to come out now. However, as she got slowly to her feet and dusted herself down, Kate glanced up and, to her surprise, found Jason standing infront of her.

She didn't even have time to process what was happening. Jason had already grabbed her by her shoulders and thrown her to the ground. Kate glanced up at him, and tried to get out of the way, but Jason was too quick for her. He stood over her and without warning stamped down hard on her left arm. Kate cried out in pain and tried to move again, but Jason just laughed coldly at her weak attempts to escape.

"What the hell are you doing here, _Katie?" _he snarled, not lifting his foot from her arm.

"G--Get _off me!" _Kate screamed, and watched as a look of panic came over Jason's face.

He quickly knelt down and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shut up," he growled into her ear, "So what? You thought just 'cause your _boyfriend _was there to save you that I wouldn't come back? Yeah, right. Can you see what that asshole did to my fuckin' face?"

Kate glanced closer at his face. Sure enough, she could now see that Jason had a black eye, plus one or two bruises on his face. Jason laughed again and shook his head, "Where is he now, _Katie? _Not here to save you again, is he?"

Kate suddenly realised what he was about to do and tried to shake him off, but felt a powerful hand close around her wrist as she tried to fight him off. The other hand was still on her mouth, preventing her from screaming for help. She felt the tears streaming down her face but was powerless to do anything. All she could do was lay there as he began to unbutton her blouse. As he freed her arm she struggled against him, but even with both her arms free he still overpowered her. Once he was done unbuttoning her blouse, he pulled it up over her head and tossed it aside. Kate used this opportunity to scream, but even when she was able to open her mouth, no sound came out. She was too afraid to do anything. The revelation that he was about to do _this _to her was too much.

Jason was already unbuttoning her jeans and yanking them down. Though she knew she didn't have a chance, Kate tried to push him off, and managed to swipe at him with her free hand. Seconds later she realised that noticed the scratch marks across his face. Jason looked furious, and a moment later Kate felt nothing but white hot pain as he punched her hard in the ribs. Suddenly she found that she couldn't breathe, but that didn't stop Jason. He yanked down her jeans and then Kate's eyes widened in horror.

"Jason, _no!" _she managed to cry out.

But it was already too late.

---

"M-Mom?"

"Katherine? Oh, my god.. I didn't think I'd hear your voice again.. how are you?"

"M-Mom.."

"Katherine? What's happened?"

"I.. he.. b--but I c--couldn't.."

"Slow down, honey. What happened?"

"He.. he.. he.. M-mom!"

"Okay, I can't hear you Katherine, you're cryin' too hard."

"I t--thought.. I thought he'd leave me alone.. M-Mom.. please come get me.."

"Okay baby, where are you?"

"T--Terrence Park."

"I'll be there in five minutes. Wait for me."

"I will."

_Click!_

---

Fifteen minutes later, Diane arrived to discover Kate sitting half naked on a bench. "Katherine?" her mother started, sounding shocked, "Katherine, oh, my lord.."

Kate didn't say a word. She just stared down at the ground, still in shock after what had just happened. Jason had took off moments before Kate had found the courage to call her mother to tell her about the whole ordeal. She felt a warm hand go around her waist, and flinched. "Katherine.. we're going home, all right? Just let me help you get up.."

After a few minutes, Kate and Diane finally made their way over to Diane's car, and Kate got into the passenger seat. She could feel her mother's eyes upon her, but neither of them said anything. Kate just wanted to go to sleep, and forget that this had ever happened. Of course, she would wake up tomorrow and be forced to remember. And that was what made her afraid. She didn't _want _to remember his hands allover her, groping her and pulling her at her clothes. Kate's ribs ached from when Jason had hit her, but she barely cared. She could barely even feel it anymore. She could barely even feel fullstop.

Everything was going dark. She felt exhausted, but knew she shouldn't sleep.

Shouldn't sleep..

Kate's eyes began to close..

There was nothing else for her to do but sleep.


	9. June 23rd, 1994

June 23rd, 1994

_**June 23**__**rd**__**, 1994**_

_So, that was that. I moved back in with Mom and Wayne, and to be honest, I didn't really mind all that much. I no longer felt safe living at Claire's for some reason. Still, even after all that had happened, Wayne still regarded me with a sneering indifference. It hurt, but all I could do was try to ignore him. _

_I remember I had a visitor a couple of days after the rape. I wasn't even expecting to see her.. but for some reason I was glad. She was the last person on earth who.. okay, here's what happened.._

"She's _what?!" _came Wayne's loud voice from downstairs.

"Wayne, just calm down." Diane replied hastily, sounding afraid.

"Don't fuckin' tell me to calm down, Diane! Are you kiddin' me? And you expect me to be okay with this? After the things she said to me?"

"She's been through a lot," came Diane's defensive reply.

"I get that, but.."

"Then don't say another word! She's my daughter, and she's going to live here again whether you like it or not!" 

Kate kept listening as Wayne's anger quickly dissolved. "All right, Diane. She can stay."

The conversation ended abruptly after that. Kate stood up and crept back to her room, then sat down on the bed, hugging her knees. She was still taking it in. It was like a bad dream. She hadn't cried since that night, but maybe that was down to shock. She hadn't uttered a word since it had happened either. She knew Wayne had big problems with her coming back, but she didn't really care. She hated him. She was just so angry; not just with Wayne, but with everyone else in her life. Her mother, Claire, even Jack. It was crazy, but also true. She felt so cold, like she'd never be cheerful again. Maybe she wouldn't be. It was too early to tell.

Jack had come to visit her twice over the past couple of days. Kate was still awaiting his daily visit that day, and for some reason she was looking forward to it, though she didn't really feel like seeing anyone. But Jack.. well, he was okay. She didn't really have any reason to be angry with him anyway. Afterall, he'd saved her the other night.

And yet..

If Jack hadn't done what he'd done the night of the party, maybe Jason wouldn't have chosen to get his revenge. Still, there was nothing that could be done about it now. It was over, it had happened. And now Kate was going to have to work on getting better. Once she'd done that, however, she'd go out to find Jason and kick him where it hurts. Oh yes, she'd take pleasure in doing that.

The doorbell rang downstairs. Kate could faintly here the disgruntled voice of Wayne, as he talked loudly to Diane whilst going to get the door. Kate suddenly perked up, wondering if it was Jack. Sure enough, she heard the faint sounds of footsteps, growing louder as they ascended the stairs. Kate turned around and sat there expectantly, waiting for the door to open to reveal Jack standing there. However, to her surprise, it wasn't Jack. It was only her mother.

"Kate," Diane began uncertainly, "There's someone here to see you."

"Is it Jack?" Kate asked, though she knew it wasn't. Her mother always allowed Jack to come straight upstairs. 

"She says her name is Shannon Rutherford."

Kate suddenly felt light headed. "What?" she breathed, unable to believe it. What on earth could _she _want?

"Should I send her up here, or..?"

"Yeah," Kate said quickly. She just had to know what Shannon was doing there.

Diane nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Moments later, it opened again and Shannon was standing there. She looked as slutty as usual, with her long blonde hair tied back in a low side ponytail, while her outfit consisted of a black crop top and dark skinny jeans. She was also wearing heels, which didn't surprise Kate in the slightest.

"What do you want?" Kate enquired, regarding her coolly. To be quite honest, she was sort of amused at Shannon being there. For a moment she forgot why she was feeling the way she was; seeing her greatest enemy standing there before her almost made her giggle.

"I came to see how you were," Shannon replied casually, closing the door with her foot and walking into the room. "So.. your Mom seems nice."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You obviously have another reason for being here, Shannon. I know you wouldn't just come to see how I was, not after that party.."

"Oh please Kate," Shannon sighed, sitting down on the bean bag opposite Kate and crossing her legs. "I'm so over that now."

"Really?" Kate said, quirking an eyebrow, utterly bewildered.

Shannon smirked at her. "Yeah, sure. I have girls say stuff like that to me all the time, and I get over it easily. But enough about that." She stopped smiling and suddenly she seemed like any ordinary girl, not the slut that Kate had always thought her out to be. "How are you doing?"

"Well gee Shannon, I'm just great," Kate rolled her eyes at the other girl and scowled. "How do you think I'm doing?"

Shannon smiled wanly back at her. "I didn't think so," she said simply, shaking her head. "It was Jason, wasn't it?"

The question caught Kate off guard and her brow furrowed. "What makes you think it was him?" she questioned.

"Come on Kate, I'm not an idiot," Shannon replied coolly, "I know they all think I am, though. Look, I tried to warn you about him, didn't I? You know I did. That's why I came up to you at the party."

Kate remembered. Shannon _had _tried to warn her. So maybe..

"Did he rape you?" Kate blurted out, and Shannon flinched. "He did, didn't he?"

Shannon snorted. "As if! Luckily I still had hold of my handbag so I hit him with that a couple of times, knocked him out cold." She shuddered, "Still, he could have. And he would have. He's a creep, Kate."

Kate said nothing. She couldn't believe this girl, who she'd believed to be a complete prep, out for nothing but attention, had fought off a predator like that. She suddenly admired Shannon, for some strange reason. 

"It was okay, though," Shannon went on, "My brother, Boone, got him back for me. I didn't even ask him too, but yeah.. sort of like how your guy _Jack _fixed him up good the other night." 

Kate couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, that was sort of.. nice." 

"I wish I knew a guy who would do something like that for me," Shannon said whistfully, "Besides Boone, of course." She added, rolling her eyes.

"Did anyone else find out about it?" Kate asked, "About Jason?"

"No, I knew how my Dad would react, so I didn't tell him. I guess I was scared, you know? I didn't want anyone to know about it, so Boone swore he wouldn't tell anyone. Anyway, I was still scared of Jason, but he never came after me again after Boone dealt with him. So.. yeah. Things were better after that."

Kate's mouth fell open. She'd never realised.. never even bothered to realise..

"Shannon.. I um.."

"Always thought I was a bitch?" Shannon finished for her, "Well duh, everyone does. I've gotten used to it, though."

Kate just shifted uneasily on the bed. To her surprise, and even dismay, Shannon rose to her feet. "Well, I guess I'd better go," she said quietly, giving Kate a small smile, "I'll see you, maybe."

Kate nodded. "Okay, then. Bye, Shannon."

The other girl quickly left the room, and Kate was left alone. Yet, even after a small chat with her worst enemy, she couldn't help but take solace in the fact that she wasn't alone.

**AN: **Oh my god, I am _so so sosososo _SORRY that I haven't posted a chapter earlier! I've had a lot of things to deal with so I really do apologize! I hope this was sufficient, and yes, Shannon will be in the story more often now. Okay, that's all I have to say.


	10. June 25th, 1994

June 25th, 1994

_**June 25**__**th**__**, 1994**_

_If there's one thing I can't stand it's feeling rejected. Ontop of that I felt both miserable and confused. I tried to assure myself that I'd get through it all and never look back, but it was hard. Still, knowing I had a few friends left gave me just a little bit of hope, even if I was surprised they wanted to be my friends at all._

O

Two days later, Kate found herself sitting in her room as usual, however this time she wasn't alone. Sitting opposite her, visiting for a second time was Shannon, who this time had taken to wearing a short white miniskirt and pink halter top. Her long blonde hair was down and curled for a change, and Kate got the feeling that after this short visit she'd be going out with friends. The idea made Kate very jealous, but she fought hard to hide it.

"What a bitch," Shannon was saying, sounding extremely disgruntled, "I just hate her. She treats me like shit most of the time, and there's nothing I can do about it. Sometimes I just want to scream at her."

"Well, I feel the same with my mom too, sometimes.." Kate said, though she couldn't help but feel amused at seeing Shannon like this.

Shannon's head jerked up and she frowned. "Sabrina is _not _my mom. She's.. my stepmom."

This startling revelation made Kate feel slightly uneasy. "Really?" was all she could say to this.

"Yeah," Shannon sighed, and to Kate's relief she didn't sound angry, "My dad met her at some wedding party about ten years ago, and for some reason he decided to marry her about twenty seconds later." The other girl sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "I was only about eight years old at the time. It was okay, I guess, but as I got older.. I don't know, I just felt really uneasy around her. It was like she didn't want me around most of the time."

Kate nodded slowly, "I'd feel the same if it were me."

"Thing is, if my dad hadn't met her in the first place then I'd never have met Boone," she smiled slightly, "He's my brother, or stepbrother to be precise. Anyway, he's lovely, always there for me."

Kate smiled along with her. Sometimes she yearned for a brother or sister, who she could look up to. Shannon crossed her legs and sighed. She clearly disliked Sabrina. Nevertheless, the fact that Shannon was also having to deal with living with someone who wasn't actually her mother made Kate feel a lot better about her own situation. It made her feel a lot better to know that she wasn't alone.

"So is Boone older than you?" Kate asked, though she guessed that he was from the way Shannon was talking of him. Sure enough, the other girl nodded.

"Yeah, he's about to start his second year of college," Shannon explained, starting to fidget slightly, "But to be honest I think he's considering dropping out. He rarely even goes in nowadays."

There was a momentary silence, but it was also a comfortable one. Kate no longer felt awkward with Shannon being there. "Shannon?" she spoke up after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"Are you gonna go to college?"

Shannon considered. "Maybe, but I just have no idea what I would do there. I don't know what the hell I want to do anyway."

Kate silently agreed with her. Though she quite liked the idea of getting away from High school and finally being able to do things her own way, she just didn't know what she'd do there. She didn't consider herself talented at anything other than being a nuisance to everyone around her.

"So.. heard anything from Jack lately?"

The question caught Kate completely off guard and she flinched. "Uh, yeah, he called just before you got here."

"So he's coming round here, then?"

Kate nodded, "Uhuh."

Shannon grinned mischeviously at her. "I sense that _someone _has a little _crush _on Jack.. have you told him yet?"

Kate tried to dismiss this, "Are you crazy? He's in college and I'm in high school. I highly doubt it would work out."

"Oh yeah, trying to be a doctor isn't he?" Shannon enquired, and when Kate nodded she laughed, "I thought about becoming a doctor once, but then I remembered that the sight of blood makes me want to puke every one of my guts up all at once."

Kate, while trying not to imagine this, smiled sourly at her. "Very nice," she said cynically, though she couldn't help laughing. She really hated to admit it, but Shannon really did make her laugh.

"Well then," Shannon said as she rose slowly from the bean bag chair, "I have to get going. I'm meeting Shawn and some of the other guys at the park in half an hour and we're heading into town." She glanced down at Kate, "Hey, you should really come with me sometime, I mean, when you've gotten over.. you know."

"Thanks," Kate replied gratefully, and she truly was grateful that Shannon would think to invite her. "Maybe I will."

Shannon's smile faded. "Well, I'll see you later. Maybe I'll call you later on, that is if I'm not completely wasted." She laughed weakly.

"Sure," Kate responded, "See you later."

With that Shannon quietly left. Kate listened sadly to the sounds of her three inch heels going down the staircase. Once they'd subsided, she flopped back on the bed, and closed her eyes.

O

Jack was ten minutes late, but that didn't bother Kate too much. She was just happy that he was finally there, since he hadn't visited in a couple of days. Kate wondered whether she should ask where he'd been over the last couple of days, then decided against it. It would only agitate him, she figured.

"So.." he started, sitting down where Shannon had been sitting before, "How're you doing?"

Kate thought about telling him the truth, that she was feeling completely miserable, then decided to lie to him. "To tell the truth, I'm feeling a lot better," she said with a false smile, "How about you? Where've you been over the last two days?"

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Kate waited anxiously for a response, or for him to completely flip, but to her surprise Jack merely laughed. "Well, uh, I was staying at a friends place since I had to get away from.." he tensed slightly, and Kate wondered what was wrong. "So uh, yeah, that's where I was."

Kate could see that it was a tough subject for him, so she decided not to pursue it any further. "Jack, can we go for a walk?" she blurted out after a pause.

Jack shrugged, "Well, it depends whether you're.."

"I know," Kate sighed, "but I've been sitting here for the last four days and frankly I could do with some fresh air. So, please?"

Jack considered then gave her a sheepish grin, "All right, but not for too long, okay? Don't want your mom going nuts at me for letting you stay out too long."

"Yeah, whatever," Kate muttered, though she managed a small smile at him.

Kate had thought that getting some fresh hair would have made her feel better, but it only made her feel worse. She shuddered, and then felt Jack put an arm around her. Though she knew it was only to keep her warm, she welcomed it nonetheless.

"So, don't you get a little scared, what with your mom and Wayne leaving you alone in the house?" Jack asked as they walked down the street.

Kate shrugged, "Not really. Makes me feel better, actually, since she keeps fretting about me and Wayne is just a pain in the ass."

Jack chuckled at this and surprisingly enough Kate found herself chuckling along with him. "So.. have the police been 'round here yet?" Jack asked.

Kate shook her head, "No, and I don't want them to."

"Kate.."

"Jack, I've already told you," Kate snapped, "I don't know who it was. I've already told you that I never saw their face."

"And they didn't say anything to you?"

"Not a word."

Jack didn't look convinced. "You can't just let someone get away with something like this, Kate. If it was _my _girlfriend who some guy.."

He broke off, and looked at Kate, who was too stunned to say anything. Jack had a girlfriend? Well, that was new.

"You never told me you were seeing somebody," she pointed out, and Jack blushed.

"Yeah, it only just started a few days ago," Jack told her, "But uh, anyway.."

"Well, I'm happy for you," Kate lied, "Well uh, I guess we'd better go back now. It's kinda' chilly out here anyway."

"Okay," Jack replied, then as if on cue his cell phone began to ring. "Hang on a sec," he said to Kate, then turned away to answer it. "Hello? Uh yeah, I know I said.. look, just give me an hour, all right? Well I never said.. okay, fine. Yeah, I get it. Okay, bye."

He turned back to Kate, and she knew what was coming. "That was my Dad," Jack explained, "I need to get going pretty sharpish or he'll be even more pissed off than he is already."

Kate smiled, "Okay, just walk me home, all right?"

Nothing was said during the walk back to Kate's place. Though she was disappointed that Jack was now seeing someone, she was still glad he had come over to see her. As soon as they reached the front door, Jack informed Kate that he would have to leave.

"I'll call you, okay?" he said with a broad smile, and after they'd said their goodbyes, he began brisk walking down the street. Kate stared sadly after him, then thought angrily of his girlfriend, whoever the hell she was.

"Fuck her," she mumbled, then laughed despite herself. "Oh gee, you're really going crazy now, aren't you, Kate?"


	11. June 26th, 1994

_**June 26th, 1994**_

_Not even a week had passed since the rape and yet I was already feeling somewhat complacent. Well, maybe it was complacent. Or maybe it was just empty. I wasn't feeling good or bad, it just.. inbetween. My thoughts went back and forth from Jason to Jack. I'd lay awake for hours at night thinking about both of them. A couple of days after the rape I started to experience my second reoccuring nightmare, but this one involved Jason. I tried to reassure myself that it would go away eventually, but nevertheless, I'd go to sleep and see his face, again and again. _

O

It was around eleven o'clock in the morning when an exhausted Kate finally shuffled into the kitchen. Her mother, who had been sitting at the table reading the obituaries since it was her day off, looked up at her. "You look tired," she observed. Kate couldn't help but smile. Nothing got past her mother.

"Yeah," Kate admitted, sliding into the chair opposite her, "I'm just having trouble sleeping, I guess."

Diane bit her lip, something she often did when worried. "Well, what about that boy? What's his name? Jake or somethin'.."

"Jack," Kate corrected her.

"Yeah, that's the one," Diane said, sipping her coffee, "Where's he been? He hasn't been around here in a few days."

Kate smiled. "He was here yesterday. He came by while you were at work."

Diane suddenly looked concerned. "Kate, I don't like the idea of people coming around here when Wayne or I aren't in the house," she explained, rising from her chair and dusting herself down. _Yeah, Wayne being here alone with me in the house would make you feel better, _Kate thought savagely, but she said nothing.

"And what about that girl? You never mentioned her before."

Kate looked up, her anger at both her mother and Wayne quickly evaporating. "Shannon? Umm, we weren't really friends before. I didn't really like her, actually. But now.." she fell silent, trying to determine what she actually thought of Shannon in her head.

"..you're growing to like her?" Diane finished, cocking her head and smiling, "Well, she seems like a nice girl. And it's nice of her to come here practically every day to visit you."

"I guess," Kate replied awkwardly, "So what are you going to do today?" 

"I haven't decided yet," Diane replied, "But Wayne forgot to take his lunch with him this morning, so I'm gonna go down and drop it off for him." She then proceeded to pick up her plate from the table, and Kate finally noticed the swelling around her wrist. It hadn't been there the other day, she was damn sure of that.

Kate barely even realised she was slowly rising up from her seat. "So uh, what kind of mood was Wayne in this morning?" she asked, trying not to lose her temper. She'd had enough of Wayne dominating her mother, dominating the both of them infact. This was definitely the final straw.

Diane shrugged, "He seemed fine to me," she said quietly, her smile having vanished in the instant that Kate mentioned Wayne's name, "Last night he was acting s-strange about something that happened at work, but-"

"Don't," Kate snapped, her hands tightening on the rim of the table, "Just don't, mom."

"Katie, what are you-?"

"Would you just stop lying to me?!" Kate exclaimed, "You know, I was stupid enough to think that it might have ended. I thought maybe since I'd moved back in here, he'd have stopped doing it. And now..?" she gestured towards her mother's wrist when Diane gave her a look of confusion. Kate felt disgusted, both with Wayne and with her mother, for allowing him to stay here, for allowing him to go on this way.

Diane glanced down at her swollen wrist, then back up at her daughter with an anguished look that almost made Kate feel guilty. And yet she couldn't let things go on like this. She'd neglected to tell her mother about the night, not too long ago, when Wayne had cornered her in her bedroom, and though nothing serious had happened, it had been enough to tell Kate that they were both no longer safe around him. He was out of control, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

"He hit me, you know."

The words just came flooding out before Kate could stop herself. Then followed a silence that she would never forget; her mother just stood staring at her for what felt like hours, and when she finally did open her mouth, nothing came out. She knew she was fighting a losing battle, but there was clearly something about Wayne that kept her here, that prevented her from telling anyone about what her husband was really like, about what he was capable of. Kate couldn't think what that was. How could her mother possibly love a man who did nothing but hurt her like this?

"Well, threw me against a wall, anyway. But I guess that's worse, isn't it?"

She knew she was being spiteful, but it had to be said. She couldn't look at her mother as she spoke. "For the last few months he's done nothing but hurt you. He's beaten you, treated you like shit.. hell mom, he even dislocated your goddamn wrist."

"He doesn't mean it!" Diane barked back defensively, "He doesn't mean to do it!"

"He's got a problem," Kate snapped viciously, "He needs help. You can't have him around here, mom. One day, he's going to start treating me in the exact same way. Then, eventually, he'll be so out of control that.." She couldn't finish that sentence. But she knew her mother understood. Diane gaped at her, shaking her head, as if it couldn't be possible. Wayne could never do that to them, not in a million years.

Kate walked slowly towards her mother and took her shaking hand. "Mom, if you don't do something about this, I will, I promise you."

Diane looked back at her, and suddenly Kate didn't recognize her anymore. This wasn't the face of her mother. This was the face of a woman who was so blinded by her love for an abusive man, that she wasn't willing to step up and tell someone about it. And it was in that moment that Kate realised she could do nothing to stop it. They wouldn't believe her. It was her mother who would have to say something, and no one else.

"You've been in love before, haven't you, Katherine?" Diane spoke softly, yet her voice was filled with anguish. Kate thought about it, then shook her head. No, she couldn't say she had. She had _thought _she was in love with Tom, but she hadn't been. Now she _thought _she might be in love with Jack, but she still wasn't sure yet. She slowly shook her head, and Diane laughed cynically. "When you're in love with someone, no matter how badly they treat you, you can't just give them up like that. I love Wayne, I've always loved him. I don't care about how he treats me, I really don't. And to tell the truth, Katie, if he ever left me, I don't think I'd beable to go on."

Kate then realised to her horror, that she had become less important to her mother than Wayne. He was the one she'd never beable to live without, and that was it. "Well, what about me?" she said hoarsely, "What if he starts to slap me around, will you still love him then?"

Diane was now in tears. "I can't talk to you now," she said, "Not when you're like this."

And then she quickly left the room. Kate heard her going up the stairs, sobbing loudly as she did so. She decided she could take it no longer. After what she'd been through she was much too afraid to go out and be around other people, but in this case she didn't really care. With shaking hands she reached for the phone and quickly dialled the number of the only person she knew she could trust.

O

Less than half an hour later, she was standing outside the front door. It opened to reveal a woman that Kate presumed to be Jack's mother. The woman took in Kate's frail form and looked alarmed. "Oh my, are you okay?" she asked, and Kate had been about to answer before Jack appeared.

"It's okay, mom," he said, giving his mother a look. The woman nodded and left them alone. Jack put an arm around Kate and led her inside. "What happened? You sounded really upset over the phone."

"She's never going to leave him," Kate said quietly, "It's either him or me. And I think she made up her mind about who she loves more a long, long time ago."

They sat down in the living room and Kate hung her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I came here. You're probably busy or something.." she muttered, and was surprised when he slowly lifted her head up.

"Just tell me what happened," he said gently, and Kate hesitated before telling him the story, about the arguement, and about the ultimatum she'd given her mother. At the end of it, Jack scratched his head and drew breath. "Wow, well first of all, you've got no reason to feel guilty about doing that. And she's delusional if she thinks a guy like that is ever going to change." He broke off, looking guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"It's okay, I agree with you," Kate said, "But it doesn't look like she's ever going to leave him. She's made her choice."

"But what about you? What are you going to do?"

Kate smiled ruefully at him. "I haven't really thought about it, yet. Listen, could I crash here for tonight, just until I figure out what I'm going to do next?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Kate.. after what happened, don't you think you should be staying with someone you know well? Like Claire?"

"I don't trust her as much as I trust you," Kate blurted out, and then she blushed visibly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Well.. I did. But.."

"Well uh, don't you have family you could stay with?" Jack asked, sounding increasingly uncomfortable.

"Ugh, no comment," Kate groaned, though she realised she was forcing herself onto him and stopped. "I'm really sorry, I'm just so angry right now. You're right, I'll - I'll find out if anyone can put me up for a while, just 'til I figure this out."

Jack said nothing for a moment, then he spoke. "Look, of course you can stay here, if that's what you really want. It's not like I'd throw you out onto the street."

Kate tried to laugh at this but found she couldn't, "Thanks a lot. I won't be here long, I promise."

"It's okay, honestly," Jack said, and pulled her into a hug. They sat there in silence for a while, holding onto eachother, then Jack said: "Oh, and about the whole trust thing, I'm really flattered."

Kate began to smile, and then the two of them sat there in silence for a while.


	12. June 26th, 1994 Part II

_**June 26th, 1994**_

_Sometimes I wish I could go back to then and change things. But I know I'd probably screw it up again. Maybe it was just meant to happen. I don't know. _

--

They'd already through three boxes of oreos, but only two small glasses of whisky, and yet Kate was already feeling quite dizzy. She knew it was because she didn't drink often; she hadn't been drunk in months, not since that house party back in February. God, her mother had eaten her alive for going to that thing. She'd stumbled home at three o'clock in the morning and had suffered the consequences of lying about where she had really gone. Kate couldn't help but smile when she thought back to then. She'd been different then, somehow. She'd changed, not all too obviously, but she was certain that she'd changed just a little bit.

They were also alone in the house. Jack's mother, Margo, had been gone for hours, to visit a friend across town. Jack's father, Christian, was still working. Kate gathered that he wouldn't be getting back for a long while, since she understood that he was a surgeon and worked long hours. She and Jack had been sitting in the living room. Kate had opted to watch television, and Jack had then suggested that they watch a movie. Kate had obliged and so Jack had put on _The Piano, _which was, coincidentally, one of Kate's favourite movies. She'd sat, watching it in awe like always, forgetting that Jack was there. Once the movie finished, she'd looked up and noticed that he was looking considerably bored.

"Didn't enjoy it, I take it?" Kate quipped with a grin as the credits rolled.

Jack slouched in his chair, "Not really. My mom loves it, so I figured you would, too."

"I've already seen it, anyway," Kate said, suddenly feeling a rush of sympathy for Jack at having to sit there for hours watching something that bored him that much, "I guess I should have mentioned that, huh?"

"Don't worry about it," Jack said, "As long as you enjoyed it."

Kate smiled at him and then looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. Her jaw dropped when she noticed what time it was. "Wow, it's after midnight. Uh, it's okay if I sleep on the couch, isn't it?"

"Of course," Jack replied, "I'll go get you some blankets and stuff from upstairs. I'll be back in a second."

With that he disappeared upstairs, leaving Kate alone. It was then that her cell phone chose to start ringing loudly, and she jumped, startled. Reaching into her back pocket, Kate pulled it out, then shook her head in disgust. As she'd suspected, it was her mother. Choosing not to answer the call, Kate stuffed it violently back into her pocket and sighed. She knew she couldn't avoid her forever, but for now she just didn't want to talk. It was clear from this morning that her mother would rather choose Wayne over her. The thought hurt Kate deeply but she tried not to think about it. She'd find some way to deal with it later.

Jack returned a moment later with a bundle of blankets and pillows. "This enough?" he asked, and Kate couldn't even see his face over all the blankets.

"Yeah," she replied, and then Jack set them down. "You can just go to bed now if you want, I can sort everything out myself."

"It's okay," Jack said, and began to help her out, "By the way, my Dad'll probably come home around three, but the chances are he'll just go straight upstairs."

The thought of Jack's father discovering her sleeping on the couch in the living room made Kate uneasy. "And if he doesn't?"

"I'll stay up 'til then," Jack said, "Just incase."

Kate blushed then dropped her gaze to the bundle of blankets. "Honestly, I'm okay to do this myself, you know."

"I know, but.." Jack broke off and looked away. "I just thought you'd want to talk, or something."

Kate was surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

"You can talk to me about it," he went on, "You know.. what happened."

Kate realised and suddenly felt sick. Things had been going great until he'd chosen to bring that up.

"I don't really want to talk about that."

"It's okay, Kate, I just--"

"Look, don't ask me about it!" Kate snapped suddenly, "I just want to forget about it and bringing it up again and again is not going to help me, is it?"

Jack looked considerably stung, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean.."

Kate suddenly felt extremely guilty. "Look, I'm sorry too. But it's a difficult subject for me, you know? I mean, I've not really properly talked about it to anyone yet, and I don't know when or if I will. It's not something I feel comfortable discussing with people."

"But you need to talk about it," Jack insisted, "or it'll just get worse."

"It couldn't _be _any worse," Kate said savagely, "Things are already as bad as they can get."

She looked up at him. Jack looked back at her with concern.

"We could talk about something else," Kate suggested, not really that tired anymore.

Jack looked interested, "Like what?" he asked.

"How's things going with the girlfriend?" Kate asked, regretting her words as soon as they came out of her mouth.

There was a momentary silence. Then Jack said, "Well, okay, I guess. I think I'm seeing her tomorrow."

Kate tried to hide her resentment towards whoever it was who had somehow managed to win Jack's heart, "Really? That's good," she replied conversationally. "I've not been with someone in a long time," she went on, avoiding Jack's gaze, "It's great when you find someone you really like, and they like you back."

Jack smiled, "Yeah, I really like her," he said, and Kate flinched, "Her name's Juliet. We met at a party a few weeks ago, but I only just got a call from her a week or so ago. We went out a few days ago and, well.. I don't know. We just hit it off straight away."

"Well, she sounds like a keeper," Kate said, unable to think of anything else to say to this.

"Let's hope so," Jack sighed, "I've been in some pretty bad relationships over the past couple of years."

Kate wanted to say that she knew how he felt, but the truth was she had no idea. After all, she'd only been in two serious relationships, and the last one had ended over a year ago. Also, Tom hadn't mistreated her in any way. Kate had been happy for him for a long while, until she'd realised that the spark had gone from their relationship.

"What happened?" Kate asked, feeling curious.

Jack suddenly looked uncomfortable. "It doesn't matter. Let's just say the last one hurt me pretty badly."

"She cheated on you?" Kate inquired, then she felt her face flush, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.."

Jack just smiled. "It's okay. And yeah, she did."

Looking at him, Kate realised how obviously hard it was for him to discuss what had happened. Seeing him like that made her realise that she had to talk to someone about what Jason had done to her, or she'd never beable to get it out. "It all happened so fast. I couldn't really do anything to stop it."

Jack looked confused, "Um, what?" he replied, looking blank. Kate gave him a serious look and then he automatically understood. "I thought you didn't want to talk about it?"

"I have to," Kate responded gravely, "and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather discuss it with."

He looked flattered, "Well uh, thanks. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Don't mention it," Kate muttered, suddenly very tired. "Listen, can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm not trying to put it off or anything, I'm just really tired."

"Yeah, of course," Jack replied, and looked like he was about to say something else to her, when the sound of a door slamming made the two of them sit bolt upright in surprise. "It's my mom," Jack explained, glancing over his shoulder, "She was supposed to be back tomorrow morning, but.."

"Jack? Are you still up?"

A woman with long, dark hair suddenly appeared in the doorway. Though it was quite dark she noticed Kate instantly. "Jack," she started icily, eyes narrowing with suspicion, "Who is this?"

Jack stood up abruptly, "Mom, this is my friend Kate. She's been having some problems at home so I told her she could stay overnight."

The woman's eyes didn't leave Kate for a few seconds, but then she nodded slowly and appeared to relax. "Well, that's all right then," she said complacently, walking over and dumping her bag on the nearby chair, "I'm Margo, Jack's mother. But I'm sure we'll beable to introduce ourselves properly in the morning. Jack, are you going to bed yet?" She glanced up at the clock pointedly, "It's late."

"I know," Jack replied patiently, "I'll be up in a few minutes."

Margo nodded. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Kate. I'll see you both in the morning."

Kate could do nothing but nod back, and then Margo was retreating out of the room, leaving her and Jack alone. Jack let out a light chuckle once his mother left. "She's pretty weird," he said in an undertone, as if worried that his mother was still listening.

"She seems okay," Kate replied, though she couldn't help but wonder if Jack was right.

Jack smiled. Kate was suddenly aware of how safe she felt around him, and of how close they had gotten over the past few days. It was as if she had known him her whole life. She just hoped that he would stick around for a while, since she could use a good friend right then.

--

_**AN: **_Oh my goddd! _So sorry _for the long gap between this update and the last! I've been busy with exams and whatnot, plus I'm in a new relationship now so that's taken up a lot of my time. I do have more ideas for the next chapters. Anyway, sorry again! Hopefully you're all still around to review!


	13. June 27th, 1994 Part I

_**June 27th, 1994**_

_Everything happens for a reason, does it? I don't think so. This wasn't meant to happen. But it did, nonetheless._

--

Kate was introduced to Jack's father, Christian Shephard, the next morning at breakfast. She, Jack and Margo had been sitting at the table in silence, all of them occassionally glancing up as if to check what the other was doing. Kate was feeling reasonably content after the night before. She and Jack had stayed up talking about whatever came to mind, before drifting off to sleep sometime between four and five in the morning. Surprisingly enough, Kate had risen early at seven o'clock the next morning and she didn't feel tired at all. Oh well.

She'd been about to help herself to some pancakes when they were interrupted. A tall, dark-haired man stood in the doorway. He looked extremely tired, and Kate guessed that he hadn't had a lot of sleep, having come home during the early hours of the morning. He stumbled into the kitchen and ran a hand through his hair.

"Morning," he grumbled, sitting down opposite Kate as if he hadn't even noticed she was there. It took him a few seconds to actually notice her. "Oh, hello."

"This is Kate," Jack explained, "She stayed the night."

"She did what?" Jack's father replied mildly, "So you two are..?"

"No," Kate cut in quickly, "I uh, I, well.."

"She needed a place to stay." Jack finished for her, and this seemed to satisfy Jack's father and he fell silent.

"Name's Christian," he said, extending his arm to shake Kate's hand, "Nice to meet you, Kate."

Kate managed a smile and then she suddenly felt extremely queasy. Deciding she needed to eat, she began to help herself to some pancakes and toast before pouring herself a glass or orange juice. Margo spoke up, "You smell funny," she observed thickly, glaring at him, "Did you go to that bar after work again?"

Christian looked up with cold, hard eyes, "Patient was on the table for eight hours straight. He died. I needed a drink after that."

"I'm sorry honey," Margo said quietly, "but you really need to stop coming home so late. You know it worries me."

Rolling his eyes, Christian began shovelling large amounts of bacon into his mouth. Seeing this made Kate feel even worse, and she suddenly clutched her stomach and bent forwards slightly. Jack gave her a questioning look but didn't say anything. Neither Christian nor Margo seemed to notice; they were too busy giving death glares to oneanother.

"So what are you kids up to today?" Margo asked, looking from Kate to Jack.

Jack glanced at Kate and then said, "Juliet's picking me up later. We're just gonna head to the mall or something."

"And what about you, Kate? Will you be staying with us again tonight?" Margo asked, glancing at Kate, who swallowed hard and looked at Jack.

"No, I don't.."

"Yeah, she is." Jack said quickly, not looking at Kate as he spoke.

Christian clapped his hands, "Well, that's great news!" he said jubilantly, making Jack and Kate exchange worried glances.

Once breakfast was over, Jack led Kate out into the hallway. "Jack, I shouldn't stay with you again. I'll call Shannon or somebody and maybe.."

"It's no problem," Jack said, though Kate knew it would definitely cause problems if _Juliet _wanted to stay over. Kate hadn't met the girl yet but she guessed that Juliet would turn out to be one of those really jealous types who became paranoid if they so much as saw their boyfriend talking to another girl. She also felt extremely guilty, like she was imposing or something. It made her feel even worse than she already did. She already felt like she would keel over at this point; the pain in her stomach seemed to have escalated greatly during the last half hour. Nevertheless, she didn't have any strength to fight him so she just sighed and nodded. Though she would call Shannon in a few minutes, once she had some time alone to herself.

It wasn't that she wanted to impose on Shannon aswell, though she knew Shannon would welcome her with open arms if she asked to stay. She just needed to get away from Jack. She appreciated all he had done for her thus far but there was some kind of tension between them, and it was beginning to make her feel seriously uncomfortable. She liked him, so much, but she knew his girlfriend wouldn't be pleased to learn that they were sleeping under the same roof. No, she definitely had to go.

"Well, I'm gonna go wash up, okay?" Jack said after a moment, and began to ascend the stairs.

"Um, Jack?" Kate started, and he turned back to her. "Is there someplace I could go to make a call? I just need to let my mom know that I'm okay."

"Sure, just use the spare room. First door on the right," Jack said helpfully, and then he was gone. Kate followed him up the staircase and found the spare room. After closing the door quietly behind her, she reached in her back pocket for her cell phone, and after whipping it out, switched it on. She was dismayed to find three missed calls, two of them from her mother, and one of them from Claire. Sighing to herself, Kate decided to ring Claire back, having not talked to her for a few days.

"Hello?" came her friend's voice from down the line. "Oh my God, Kate! I thought you'd vanished off the face of the earth or something."

"No such luck," Kate said, "What did you want? I had my phone off."

"Just wanted to know how you were doing," Claire replied, "Things going okay at home?"

"Not quite," Kate sighed, "I'm staying at Jack's right now."

"Jack? But you hardly know him!"

"He offered so I said yes."

"But, Kate.."

"I'm going today, anyway," Kate said quickly, "I dunno where, but I'm going. And don't ask me to come back to your place, since I've already caused enough shit for you and your mom."

"No you haven't," Claire said, sounding baffled, "Look, just come and stay with us for a while 'til you sort things out. Where else are you going to go anyway?"

"I don't know," Kate said tiredly, "I'll be fine, all right? Look, I'll talk to you later."

"Okay," Claire said morosely, "But look after yourself, all right? And you know where I am if you ever need to talk."

"Thanks Claire," Kate said, glad to know that Claire was still there for her, "I'll see you later."

She hung up, and dialled Shannon's number. Well, if Shannon did let her stay, then maybe while she was there Kate could arrange to stay at her aunt's or something. Kate knew that her Aunt Willow would be more then happy to have her. Though the woman was extremely eccentric and weird, Kate liked her and wouldn't mind staying with her til things got sorted out. Still, she decided that just for the rest of the day, she'd call Shannon and see about hanging out with her. It was a long shot, since Shannon was probably going out with friends, but she could atleast try.

Shannon answered quite quickly and for a moment Kate didn't know what to say. "Hello?" Shannon said in an irritated tone. Then Kate finally spoke. "Oh, hey Kate! What's up?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you wanted to do anything today?" Kate asked, feeling extremely stupid.

"Aren't you meant to be like.. you know, relaxing a little?" Shannon enquired, sounding worried.

"I've been 'relaxing' for days now. I just need to get out of the house," Kate lied. She had no interest in going out. But if she had to, then she would.

"Hmm, okay," Shannon answered, "You wanna come down here? We can just hang out at my place if you want. The Mega Bitch went out a little while ago so only the annoying step-brother remains, but he won't bother us."

Kate couldn't help but smile. She knew 'The Mega Bitch' was Shannon's step-mother Sabrina, whom Shannon had bitched about to Kate many times during her visits to Kate's house before. "Sure," Kate agreed, and once they'd made the arrangements Kate hung up the phone. She then went off in search of Jack to inform him of her plans. She knew he'd object, but she and he and both knew she couldn't stay there. She found him in the hallway on the phone.

"Yeah, okay," he was saying, "See you then."

He hung up, and glanced around at Kate. "I'm going to Shannon's, and then I'm going to try and get in touch with my Aunt, to see if she'll put me up for a few days." Kate explained, and Jack frowned.

"You can stay here," he said briskly, though he did sound worried at the same time.

"No I can't," Kate sighed, "Your girlfriend wouldn't like it." She pointed out.

"So what?" Jack said, then looked guilty, "Yeah, I guess you're right. But look, she's coming over to pick me up in about twenty minutes. You can hitch a ride to Shannon's if you want."

Kate felt sick at the thought of getting a ride with Jack and his girlfriend, and tried to think about how severely awkward that would be, but somehow she couldn't. Still, she didn't really want to go all the way there by herself, so she took him up on his offer. After quickly packing what little things she had brought, she met Jack at the front door, just as a blue ferrari pulled up outside. Jack waved and Kate held her breath. A moment later, a tall, blonde girl stepped out of the car.

Kate knew there would be trouble the moment she set eyes on her. The girl, or _Juliet, _was dressed quite fashionably and was also wearing tinted sunglasses. She walked towards them in three inch heels, looking as though she was about to fall over. When she reached them, she smiled at Jack, then seemed to grimace at Kate. "Hey," she said sweetly to Jack, "Whose this?" she added, looking at Kate.

"This is uh, my friend, Kate," Jack said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Juliet leaned forward and gave him a kiss. Kate tried hard not to stare.

"Umm.." Jack began, looking dazed, "I said we'd give Kate a ride. That okay?"

"Sure," Juliet said with another smile, "That's okay. That's fine."

Kate just wished she could see the cold, staring eyes behind those tinted sunglasses.

_**AN: **__Short chapter, but you met Juliet anyway. Hope it was enough. _


	14. UPDATE

Hi guys, erm sorry about this, I know i haven't updated in a while. Things are hectic around here i guess. I'm starting college in a few days and I've been busy anyway so I haven't had a lot of writing time. So updates will be alot less frequent from now on. But I'm not drifting away from fanfiction just yet ;) So hopefully when I get around to updating again you will all still be here. That's it lol.

Thanks alot you guys, to everyone who has read and reviewed cheers :)

I'll be back soon!

Anna


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